Klaus Winkler is the new Chairman of the Bechtle Supervisory Board.

• Co-founder Gerhard Schick has relinquished his operative duties within the company
• Professor Dr. Thomas Hess has joined the Supervisory Board

Neckarsulm, 20 June 2012 – Gerhard Schick, co-founder of Bechtle, long-time CEO, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2004, officially stepped down from his duties as Chairman of the Supervisory Board upon conclusion of yesterday's general meeting. In the constituent meeting, which took place immediately after the general meeting, the Supervisory Board named Klaus Winkler the new Chairman of the Board. The 54-year-old managing director of Gebr. Heller Maschinenfabrik GmbH has been a member of the Bechtle Group's Supervisory Board since 1999 and presided over the Board from 1999 to 2004. After successfully completing his academic degree in business administration, he held various positions at BW-Bank in Stuttgart, including the position of Head of Corporate Finance. Between 1990 and 2001, Klaus Winkler was a member of the Board of BWK Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH in Stuttgart, before taking on duties at Heller, one of the world's leading manufacturers of work machines and complex manufacturing systems.

End of an era — last remaining co-founder steps down.

As already reported in March, Gerhard Schick has stepped down from his position one year earlier than originally planned. The 72-year-old businessman emphasised that both he and his family would remain closely affiliated with Bechtle as major shareholders. “Bechtle is in a great position, today. I have full confidence in the members of the Executive and Supervisory Boards, who will now control the fate of the company's fortunes,” Gerhard Schick explained at the general meeting. With the departure of Gerhard Schick, the era of the founders of Bechtle has come to an end: after Ralf Klenk stepped down from his position as CEO in 2008, thanking Gerhard Schick for the many years of co-operation, the only remaining founder of Bechtle has now also departed from the company.

New member of the Supervisory Board is chosen.

Approximately 600 attendees of the general meeting elected professor Dr Thomas Hess of the Institute for Information Systems and New Media at Munich's Ludwig Maximilians Universität to the Supervisory Board. Currently, the 44-year-old professor is chiefly responsible for cloud computing and the internationalisation of IT businesses. He also brings with him valuable experience in the IT and media industries. Professor Dr. Hess is currently not serving on any other supervisory boards, in addition to his new responsibilities at Bechtle.