DGAP-News: New candidates for Bechtle Supervisory Board

New candidates for Bechtle Supervisory Board
 

- Shake-up of shareholder representatives
- Regular election employee representatives
 

Neckarsulm, 26 April 2018 - Bechtle AG's Supervisory Board will on 12 June 2018 propose to the AGM two new candidates to represent shareholders on the committee, following a call for employees to vote on their representatives at the regular election on 27 April.
 

After a very successful four-year run, Dr Matthias Metz, Chairman of Bechtle AG's Supervisory Board, has decided to not stand for re-election. In 2014, the 65-year old took up the reins from Gerhard Schick, who served as interim chair following Klaus Winkler's decision to step down from the position for personal reasons in late 2013. Klaus Winkler is pegged to return to the board by way of succeeding Dr Matthias Metz. "My experience over the past years has made it clear that-given the momentum Bechtle has gathered in such a complex environment-the mandate demands a lot more attention, and, as a consequence, time, which is in conflict with my personal plans for the future. I have, therefore, decided to not stand for re-election. I do this in the knowledge of leaving a highly successful business with a very promising future," says Dr Matthias Metz, who is also pleased to be succeeded by his own predecessor.

Klaus Winkler, chairman of the board of Heller GmbH, has known Bechtle for over 20 years and brings with him his experience in the management of a medium-sized global player. As the managing director of BWK GmbH, he oversaw the company's stake in Bechtle, and in 1999 was appointed to Bechtle's first Supervisory Board when it took the legal form of an Aktiengesellschaft, taking over as chairman until Gerhard Schick was elected to the Supervisory Board.

Standing to replace Dr Jochen Wolf is Dr Lars Grünert, a member of the management board of Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG. Since 2014, the 49-year-old holds the position of CFO, overseeing the areas of finance, financial services, venture capital, purchasing and information security. Before that, his responsibilities on the board included the organisation's central IT department. Dr Jochen Wolf, spokesman for the board of investment company BWK GmbH, has been on the Bechtle Supervisory Board since 2003. Following BWK's disinvestment in 2011, Mr Wolf remained on the board for a further term before choosing not run again. With Lars Grünert, he is expected to hand the baton to another financial expert who is well versed in digital business.

Gerhard Schick, Bechtle co-founder, Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and-along with his family-a committed stakeholder in the company, praised the work of the parting members. "On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr Metz and Dr Wolf for their professional work and valuable contribution of their experience over the past years. At the same time, we are pleased to announce the return of Klaus Winkler as a highly competent chair, as well as the candidacy of Dr Lars Grünert, whose fresh ideas will prove a great addition to the board."
 

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About Bechtle: Bechtle AG is one of Europe's leading IT providers, with some 70 systems integrators in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as e-commerce subsidiaries in 14 European countries. Founded in 1983, the company is headquartered in the southern German town of Neckarsulm and currently employs some 8,400 people. Bechtle provides 70,000 customers from the industrial, trade, financial and public sectors with a comprehensive, vendor-neutral portfolio that covers all aspects of IT infrastructure and operation. Bechtle is listed on the German stock index TecDAX. In 2017, the Group generated revenues of around 3.6 billion euros. Read more at: bechtle.com