2024-07-02 17:06:57
There’s a scandal at Heckler & Koch: An influence battle between two main shareholders causes the annual common assembly to be canceled.
An influence battle between two main shareholders on the weapons producer Heckler & Koch has led to a scandal. Following a request from the lawyer of one among these shareholders, the annual common assembly in Rottweil was cancelled.
The rationale was that the required attendance of simply over 50 p.c of the share capital was not achieved. Because of this, Supervisory Board Chairman Rainer Runte needed to finish the assembly, which had already begun, early. It should now be rescheduled inside three months.
In the meantime, the most important producer of handguns introduced figures for the primary quarter of 2024: Whereas gross sales rose by 1.8 million euros to 75 million euros, web revenue fell from 10 million euros in the identical interval final 12 months to simply 2.4 million euros. The corporate defined the event with seasonal fluctuations: For some orders, the supply dates and thus the gross sales and revenue results had been outdoors the primary quarter.
On the shareholders’ assembly, firm boss Jens Bodo Koch expressed optimism that the expansion pattern of current years would proceed. Gross sales will develop by double digits in 2024 in comparison with the earlier 12 months and the working consequence (EBITDA) will likely be above the earlier 12 months’s determine, the supervisor mentioned.
The dispute, which escalated on Tuesday and led to the cancellation of the overall assembly, has been happening since 2019. Since then, either side have been pulling out all of the stops in a number of courts. It issues the German investor Andreas Heeschen, who had lengthy been the bulk shareholder of the most important German handgun producer, and the Luxembourg monetary holding firm CDE. In accordance with the monetary holding firm, Heeschen regularly pledged a complete of 15 million shares to CDE for 163 million euros from 2015 onwards.
At a sure cut-off date, CDE demanded that the shares be returned. In accordance with their understanding of the legislation, possession and thus voting rights had been transferred to CDE on the finish of 2019. Heeschen noticed it otherwise; he nonetheless noticed himself because the proprietor of the shares. A authorized dispute started earlier than the Frankfurt Regional Courtroom and Greater Regional Courtroom. As a result of Heeschen turned to the Federal Courtroom of Justice (BGH) on this authorized dispute, there isn’t a legally binding judgment thus far.
Due to this authorized situation that had not been lastly resolved, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Runte, determined to not permit a disputed share bundle of virtually 40 p.c of the share capital to be voted on on the Annual Basic Assembly – in different phrases, to not permit both CDE or Heeschen to vote. Nevertheless, he assumed that Heeschen would nonetheless take part within the assembly with one other, smaller share bundle. As a result of Heeschen didn’t do that, solely 48 p.c of the share capital was represented on the shareholders’ assembly. Runte then pulled the emergency brake and canceled the Annual Basic Assembly.
Representatives of the CDE had been offended in regards to the German investor’s actions. “It exhibits that Mr. Heeschen is making an attempt to implement his alleged personal claims on the again of the corporate, thereby inflicting prices and unnecessarily tying up the corporate’s assets,” CDE consultant Andreas Gregor instructed dpa. He identified that Heeschen had not fulfilled his obligations underneath the pledge agreements. “Regardless of being requested to take action, he neither transferred the shares nor repaid the loans on time, which have been due because the finish of June 2022.”
Heeschen was not personally current on the common assembly. By his lawyer Oliver Krauß, he wished to switch two supervisory board members who sit on the supervisory board for CDE. To do that, nevertheless, he would have wanted the voting rights from the 40 p.c share bundle. That didn’t work. He then known as off your entire common assembly.