The shareholders

The prime aim of the founders when they converted the firm into a public limited company in 2000 was to give their employees the opportunity of participation.

Following conversion the founders submitted a participation offer to each employee. Since then employees and management have been acquiring shares regularly as part of the annual employee share programme or as participants in option plans. Today they hold a total of 14 % of the shares

Employee shareholders have meanwhile transferred shares to their children or sold them to third parties. As a result, the group of shareholders outside the company has been growing in size continuously. External shareholders hold 6 % of share capital today.

80 % of the shares are in the hands of the three founders and their families. They recognise their responsibility for the stability of the company and are synonymous with the continuity of corporate policy.