PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2018

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Bunsenstr. 14 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Waldemar Schmitke Anthony Withers WikiPETia.info petplanet@hbmedia.net MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Johann Lange-Brock lange-brock@hbmedia.net phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur | exprim.de B. Gaumann, M. Gaumann READER SERVICES Till Kretner reader@hbmedia.net PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstr. 25 67354 Römerberg Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | w ww.petpla.net PETplanet Insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trademarks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 01+02/18 www.petpla.net PETplanet is back once again after its usual winter break. Two press releases have appeared on our desk in recent weeks that show almost in textbook fashion the difference between strategic and financial investors. First, Husky has been passed from one financial investor to another and, second, there has been a change at the top of KHS management. First the financial investors. Their business model is to buy a com- pany then sell it on after a few years for the greatest possible profit. Berkshire Partners LLC and the private equity arm of Ontario Munici- pal Employees Retirement System (Omers) have sold Husky to finan- cial investor Platinum Equity. In August 2017, the news agency Reuters reported the company was seeking US$4bn with an estimated profit before tax, interest and depreciation of around US$350 million. It is unlikely that investors were able to complete the purchase at the asking price, but the general direction is clear. In 2011, Berkshire and Omers acquired Husky from Onex Corp for US$2.1bn. Investors have moved on but the boss remains a constant. Platinum Equity has reacted positively to John Galt, who has been CEO at Husky since 2005. He is therefore one of the longest-serving CEOs in the sector and so ensures the necessary consistency at Husky. Consistency is an attribute more frequently associated with family businesses and strategic investors. This is the case at Salzgitter, which purchased KHS in 2007. Here, it was the investors that stayed and the boss who left. This was Prof. Dr.-Ing Matthias Niemeyer, who came to KHS in 2011 through Salzgitter as Chair of the Board of Directors. The Supervisory Board thanked him expressly for significantly increasing turn- over but there was no mention of the profit increase in the press release. According to a report by Salzgitter AG, the 2016 profit was around 2%, while competitor Krones achieved 7% with a similar product range. This shows that Salzgitter stands by its investment and prefers to work on the foundations. For a transition period, the interim Chair is former Manag- ing Director of Finance at KHS, Burkhard Becker. He also comes from Salzgitter but has been part of Krupp Kunststofftechnik since 1998, to which at that time belonged also Corpoplast, which is today part of the KHS Group. How’s that for consistency!? Yours, Alexander Büchler Dear friends of PETplaner Insider, Consistency: One way or another... Husky sold, KHS under new management