ZEISS to acquire majority stake in the Optec Group

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, MOSCOW/Russia, 06-Nov-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — ZEISS will strengthen its activities in Russia, the Ukraine, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Georgia by acquiring a majority stake in the Optec Group, – the long-standing sales and service partner responsible for this territory.

With this step, ZEISS is continuing and expanding its almost 115-year presence in the region. Optec is represented in the territory with approx. 300 employees and operates 16 subsidiaries and branches in seven countries. In the future the shares of the company will be jointly held by Carl Zeiss AG and the long-standing owner Family v. Korff. The shares of the former CEO and shareholder Maksym Igelnyk will be therefore fully acquired by ZEISS. Effective 1 January 2018, Optec will be led by Michael Hubensack (ZEISS) and Nicholas v. Korff.

Optec will retain its current sales and service organization to act as a solutions provider with its full portfolio of ZEISS and complementary third-party products.

Thomas Spitzenpfeil, CFO & CIO of Carl Zeiss AG, commented on the transition as follows: “We see Russia, the CIS countries, the Ukraine and Georgia as markets with promising and sustainable growth potential despite political challenges. Our new role as the majority shareholder in the Optec Group is a manifestation of our strong engagement in this region. It underlines our trust in our local partners, the customers and the entire Optec team. Customers and partners, both old and new, will benefit from the new setup.”

Nicholas v. Korff (CFO Optec Group) commented on the new setup as follows: “Having ZEISS as a strong and strategic partner enables Optec to better serve our customers and provide even more innovative solutions, as well as enlarge our presence in attractive markets. Optec will continue to combine ZEISS products with other leading brands or cutting-edge technologies to provide customers with outstanding solutions and continue the Optec success story.”

Press contact

Jörg Nitschke
Group Spokesman
ZEISS Group
Phone: +49 7364 20-3242
joerg.nitschke@zeiss.com

Ekaterina Kutuzova
Head of Marketing
OPTEC Group
Phone: +7 495 933-51 51
kutuzova@optecgroup.com

ZEISS Group
ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. The ZEISS Group develops, produces and distributes measuring technology, microscopes, medical technology, eyeglass lenses, camera and cinema lenses, binoculars and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. With its solutions, the company constantly advances the world of optics and helps shape technological progress. ZEISS is divided up into the four segments Research & Quality Technology, Medical Technology, Vision Care/Consumer Products and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. The ZEISS Group is represented in more than 40 countries and has over 50 sales and service locations, more than 30 manufacturing sites and about 25 research and development centers around the globe.

In fiscal year 2015/16 the company generated revenue approximating €4.9 billion with over 25,000 employees. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. Carl Zeiss AG is the strategic management holding company that manages the ZEISS Group. The company is wholly owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).

More information about ZEISS Group

Optec Group

The Optec Group initially emerged from a former ZEISS subsidiary. Over the last 10 years it has outgrown its role of being solely a ZEISS Partner and has developed into a solutions provider for its partners. Optec´s solutions are created with and based on cutting-edge technology, combined with software solutions, all precisely tailored to the technological evolution in industry, science, education and healthcare.

More information about Optec Group

The following ZEISS business groups will be represented by the new Optec Group directly in Russia:

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (ISIN: DE 0005313704), which is listed on TecDAX of the German stock exchange, is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies. The Company supplies innovative technologies and application-oriented solutions designed to help doctors improve the quality of life of their patients. It provides complete packages of solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases, including implants and consumable materials. The Company creates innovative visualization solutions in the field of microsurgery. With approximately 2,900 employees worldwide, the Group generated revenue of €1,088 million in fiscal year 2015/16 (to 30 September). The Group’s head office is located in Jena, Germany, and it has subsidiaries in Germany and abroad; more than 50 percent of its employees are based in the USA, Japan, Spain and France. The Center for Application and Research (CARIn) in Bangalore, India and the Carl Zeiss Innovations Center for Research and Development in Shanghai, China, strengthen the Company’s presence in these rapidly developing economies. Around 41 percent of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG’s shares are in free float. The remaining approx. 59 percent are held by Carl Zeiss AG, one of the world’s leading companies in the optical and optoelectronic industries.

The ZEISS Industrial Metrology Business Group (starting in 2018) is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, and metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the product portfolio. The business group additionally offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with measuring houses and competence centers close to its customers. The Industrial Metrology business group is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. The business group is allocated to the Research & Quality Technology segment. Around 6,100 employees work for the segment, generating revenue totaling €1.5 billion in fiscal year 2015/16.

The ZEISS Microscopy Business Group is the world’s only one-stop manufacturer of light, electron, X-ray and ion microscope systems. The portfolio comprises solutions and services for the life sciences and materials research as well as for industry, education and clinical practice. The business group is headquartered in Jena. Additional production and development sites are located in Oberkochen, Göttingen and Munich, as well as in Cambridge in the UK, and in Peabody, MA and Pleasanton, CA in the USA. The business group is allocated to the Research & Quality Technology segment. Around 6,100 employees work for the segment, generating revenue totaling €1.5 billion in fiscal year 2015/16.

About the new Optec Management
Michael Hubensack was born in Göttingen on 16 October 1963. He graduated with a degree in business economics from the Georg August University of Göttingen in 1988. His ZEISS career started in 1990 as a trainee at ZEISS Industrial Metrology Business Group. In 1993 he became Area Sales Manager in the Ophthalmic Lenses division with responsibility for various European countries and from 1995 managed the Ophthalmic Lenses division at ZEISS in Prague. Between 2000 and 2007 he held management positions, from PC Manager to Managing Director, at ZEISS in South Africa. In 2007 he acted as an interim Managing Director at Carl Zeiss Sport Optikai Hungary and in 2008 assumed the role of Vice President responsible for sales distribution partners in the EMEA & LATAM regions for Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

Nicholas von Korff was born in Düsseldorf on 2 January 1978. He studied at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, the London School of Economics and completed his education at the Technical University of Berlin with a degree in business administration in 2005. Since 2008 he has been actively involved in Optec Holding BV as a CFO of the Optec Group. Between 2007 and 2015 he was also a Managing Director of TOO Optec in Kazakhstan. N. v. Korff is married and has three children.

SOURCE: ZEISS International