Neckarsulm, 05 March 2012 – Gerhard Schick, co-founder of Bechtle, long-time CEO, and chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2004, will leave the company's Supervisory Board upon conclusion of the general meeting. Schick's designated successor—pending a vote by the Supervisory Board at its constituent meeting—is Klaus Winkler. The managing director of Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH has been a member of Bechtle AG's Supervisory Board since 1999 and presided over the board from 1999 to 2004. The Supervisory Board is also submitting Dr Thomas Hess of the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at Munich's Ludwig Maximilians Universität for election to the Supervisory Board. The Annual General Meeting of Bechtle AG will be held on 19 June 2012 at the Harmonie congress centre in Heilbronn.
"As co-founder and long-time CEO and chairman of the Supervisory Board, Gerhard Schick has played a key role in Bechtle's development. He and Ralf Klenk have written an extraordinary success story together. His expertise, his entrepreneurial skills, his good business sense and his ability to continue developing the company to meet market requirements defined his highly successful career as head of the company. The expert advice he provides as chairman of the Supervisory Board is in high demand both from the Supervisory and the Executive Boards. I feel a personal connection to Gerhard Schick and I really value his help, both in strategic and business questions," says Dr Thomas Olemotz, CEO of Bechtle AG.
In 1983, Gerhard Schick co-founded Bechtle. In 2000, he became the CEO of Bechtle AG, which made its initial public offering that year. In 2004, he moved to the Supervisory Board, and became chairman. Gerhard Schick, who will celebrate his 72nd birthday this May, says, "Seeing the excellent situation Bechtle is in today, I feel good about retiring from my position of responsibility. My family and I will remain the principal shareholders and will maintain our close ties to the company in the future. We won't be selling any shares, but rather buying more when good opportunities come up". As the principal shareholder, Gerhard Schick's daughter Karin holds 35.02 per cent of the Bechtle shares.