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Ventizz merges AEM Technologies Holding AG and CardFactory AG
Juli 10, 2009
The business activities of Switzerland-based AEM Technologies Holding AG (St. Gallen) and CardFactory AG (Oldenburg), which ranks among the largest RFID card manufacturers, are being merged. This transaction will result in a provider of data carriers, PCBs and computers with integrated security electronics (“Embedded Solution House”) which will be uniquely positioned and will operate under the name of AEM Technologies Holding AG. The merger became effective on June 30, 2009. It is a result from contributing majoritarian interests in CardFactory AG to AEM Technologies Holding, both held by the private equity fund “Ventizz Capital Fund III LLC”.
The merger will allow new products to be developed and marketed, and will also result in improved geographic reach in future: The group now has offices in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The Netherlands. Annual revenues of the new company will exceed € 100 million.
The contribution of CardFactory AG to AEM Technologies Holding AG means that Ventizz Capital Fund III has once again achieved another key objective in its long-term buy-and-build strategy for its portfolio companies. Most recently, in January 2009, the Austrian Visioncard Kunststoffkarten-Produktions GmbH was integrated into CardFactory AG. In 2006 the private equity fund already merged PPC Card Systems GmbH into CardFactory.
“We believe that demands for integrated security applications will increase strongly in AEM Technologies Holding AG’s core markets,” commented Willi Mannheims, a managing board member and partner of Ventizz Capital Partners Advisory AG, which exclusively advises the Ventizz funds. “CardFactory AG’s in-depth knowledge will allow AEM Technologies Holding AG to offer its customers security solutions in the embedded systems sector from a single source, thus creating significant value added,” he noted.
Uli Reutner, a co-shareholder of CardFactory AG and the new CEO of AEM Technologies Holding AG is looking forward to the close cooperation between the two companies: “CardFactory benefits from AEM Technologies microelectronics expertise. That means that we can make sure that CardFactory AG can also supply its customers with cards with top-of-the-range technology with an ideal cost/benefit ratio in future. What is more, there is, as yet, no other provider that can unite complex control electronics with card-based security technology. Most of our embedded systems competitors cannot offer any comparable security solutions,” added Uli Reutner.
The merger will not result in any changes for either of the corporate groups’ customers, they will continue to enjoy the same excellent quality of service.
Robert Wolny and Jan Trommershausen, who were formerly members of CardFactory AG’s management, will join AEM Technologies Holding AG’s management team as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Integration Officer. Ulrich Feisst, who has been the group’s CFO to date, will continue to hold this position in future. Harald Hanne, the group’s former CEO, will leave the managing board at his own request.
Company profiles
AEM Technologies Holding AG, based in St. Gallen (Switzerland) acts as an end-to-end supplier for highly complex electronic applications. The group spans the entire value chain and offers end-to-end solutions from development through to the high-volume production of market-ready top-quality products. The group includes four companies: Mikrap AG, GS Swiss PCB AG, ECR AG (all based in Switzerland) and AEMtec GmbH (Germany).
On the Internet at: http://www.aem-holding.de/
Oldenburg-based CardFactory AG (Germany) is an innovative, global manufacturer of chipcards and leads the market for future-proof technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification) and biometry. CardFactory AG, which was formed in 2000, acts as the holding company for its operating subsidiaries, Novacard Informationssysteme GmbH, PPC Card Systems GmbH, Idvation GmbH (all based in Germany), PPC Card Systems B.V. (The Netherlands), and Visioncard Kunststoffkarten-Produktions GmbH, based in Kematen (Austria).
On the Internet at: http://www.cardfactory-ag.de/
Ventizz Capital Partners was formed in 2000 and has offices in St. Gallen and Düsseldorf. Ventizz Capital Partners exclusively advises the Ventizz private equity funds that offer equity capital for the growth of high-tech companies in the German-speaking region. Ventizz has three partners: Dr. Helmut Vorndran, Reinhard Löchner and Willi Mannheims. Together with a team of 13 professionals they currently advise four funds with capital under management totaling EUR 675 million. Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. is the largest of the four funds set up to date. After six months of fund-raising, this fund was closed at the end of 2007 with a volume of EUR 450 million and is thus one of the largest private equity funds for venture capital and medium-sized tech buy outs in the German-speaking region.
To date, Ventizz funds have invested in 31 companies focusing on renewable energy, medical technology, information and communication technology and on other branches of industry offering high value-added. In addition to a large number of trade sales, Ventizz has successfully placed three of its participating interests (ersol, SAF, PV Crystalox Solar) on the stock exchange.
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