Herlitz International Trading

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herlitz International Trading AG (also called HIT AG for short ) was a globally active paper trading company based in Ismaning in the 1980s and 1990s . Its shares were listed on the Munich and Berlin stock exchanges .

history

1974 to 1988

Herlitz International Trading AG was founded as Herlitz GmbH & Co. KG in July 1983 as a 100% subsidiary of Herlitz AG Berlin . The predecessor was Herlitz Consult GmbH , founded in 1974 , which was commissioned in 1975 to build a turnkey factory for exercise books in Baghdad . Including a bridge that was also built and a small mosque, this was the largest single order in the history of the Herlitz parent company (order volume: 38 million DM).

1989 to 1998

Herlitz International Trading (HIT) was converted into a stock corporation in October 1989. Herlitz AG continued to hold the majority of the share capital. By going public in 1990, HIT received DM 25 million, which was used to finance the company's strong growth. HIT was initially a pure paper trading company. In addition to wood-free writing and printing papers, the product range also included papers for newspaper and magazine printing . The main sales markets in the early 1990s were Germany, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, restricted - by political unrest - also Algeria and Iran. HIT managed to secure a broad procurement base. In 1992 Scandinavia, Germany, North America and Brazil were among the largest sourcing countries. In the same year the subsidiary HIT-Papierververarbeitungmaschinen-Handels-GmbH (HIT PVM) was founded, with offices in Ismaning, Berlin and the Netherlands.

In September 1993, HIT acquired a 50% stake in the Becker Falken Group (in Haan and Peitz ) with the aim of supplying commercial and official end users with photocopy paper, envelopes and folders . From a company that dealt exclusively with the paper trade - mainly in the countries of the Third World - a small group developed; supplemented by activities in the production of newsprint in Switzerland (participation in the Zwingen AG paper factory) and in Russia. HIT AG initially became a minority shareholder, from 1995 majority shareholder of Volga AG in Nizhny Novgorod . In addition to the distribution rights for Russian newsprint, HIT took over the management of the factory as a co-owner.

From January 1993 to March 1997, the HIT share rose from DM 270 by more than 420% to DM 1,150, while the DAX rose by only 200% in the same period. The CEO of HIT AG, Gérald Jaslowitzer, commented on the extraordinary successes of Volga AG in the Manager Magazin as follows: “Wood is 70 percent cheaper in Russia than in this country. The energy costs are only a fifth of the comparable costs in Scandinavia. Not to mention the wage costs: At the moment it doesn't matter whether we have 6,000 or 1,000 employees. ”And Jaslowitzer continues:“ No German company can keep up. The industry could disappear in Germany in the medium term. "

This report was translated into Russian two days later and was circulating in Nizhny Novgorod. The timber industry and the energy suppliers demanded prices in line with the market from now on, and the workers began to rebel. "Jaslowitzer had caused the greatest catastrophe in the company's history." "In total, the adventure Russia cost the company around 100 million marks."

In July 1997 the situation of AO Volga was so tense that the desired strategic partnership could no longer be realized. AO Volga’s liquidity situation deteriorated to such an extent that proper operations could no longer be maintained. The supervisory board separated from the chairman of the board, Gérald Jaslowitzer, in order to enable the board of directors to concentrate the company on its core competencies. Detlef Stronk was appointed chairman of the management board for the realignment of HIT. In July 1997 the supervisory board and board of directors decided to correct the total commitment at AO Volga in the amount of DM 86.6 million. All contracts with AO Volga and the associated obligations and risks have been terminated. At the end of 1997, the executive board contracts of Klaus-Jürgen Leipold and Antony Doran were no longer renewed.

Business figures for the years 1988 to 1998

Fiscal year Sales
in million DM		 Annual surplus /
annual deficit
in million DM		 Employee Chairman of the Supervisory
Board		 Board
chairman
1988 120 + 2.0 32 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1989 160 + 5.0 35 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1990 233 + 7.0 40 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1991 232 + 4.9 42 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1992 216 + 4.4 55 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1993 290 + 7.3 408 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1994 426 + 11.2 459 Günter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1995 713 + 19.4 400 Günter Herlitz (until June 20, 1995)
Peter Herlitz (from June 20, 1995)		 Gérald Jaslowitzer
1996 495 - 1.4 119 Peter Herlitz Gérald Jaslowitzer
1997 449 - 86.9 103 Peter Herlitz (until Oct. 22, 1997)
Karel de Vries (from Nov. 7, 1997)		 Gérald Jaslowitzer (until July 7, 1997)
Detlef Stronk (from July 7, 1997)
Detlef Stronk (from September 1, 1997)
1998 301 - 7.5 70 Karel de Vries Detlef Stronk

(Sources: annual reports for the respective years)

1999 until today

Ernst Schennen became the new CEO in 1999. In the same year, sales shrank to 163 million DM.

The Herlitz AG sold in 2000 its remaining shares in Herlitz International Trading AG to Blake International Limited (British Virgin Islands). The company was renamed HIT International Trading , the company's headquarters were relocated to Berlin.

Since 2003 the former subsidiary of Herlitz AG has owned 55 percent of the Canadian group MFC Bancorp Ltd. The shares are held directly by its Vienna-based subsidiary MFC Commodities GmbH. The management board and supervisory board of HIT have been filled with MFC employees and the entire HIT business has already been transferred to a newly founded subsidiary of HIT, HPT GmbH in Vienna, without consideration. The business is operated on the premises of MFC, which also takes over the commercial administration including the finance department.

The activities were reduced more and more. Sales in 2006 only amounted to EUR 28,000.00.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Security identification no. 605 290
  2. ^ Annual report 1990: Herlitz International Trading AG
  3. ^ Annual report 1992: Herlitz International Trading AG, pp. 18–20
  4. ↑ Annual Report 1993: Herlitz International Trading AG, pp. 17–18
  5. ^ Annual report 1995: Herlitz International Trading AG, p. 4 and 11
  6. ↑ a b Manager Magazin, No. 3/1995, pp. 169–170
  7. ↑ Berliner Morgenpost, July 16, 1997: Russian Experiences - About the Problems of German Investors .
  8. ↑ a b Manager Magazin, November 1998, pp. 41–46
  9. ↑ According to § 111 II AktG, the supervisory board member Detlef Stronk was appointed as the representative of the supervisory board and sent to HIT to advise and support the management board
  10. ↑ According to § 105 II AktG
  11. ↑ Annual reports from the years 1988 to 1998 of Herlitz International Trading AG
  12. ↑ Annual report 1999: Herlitz International Trading AG
  13. ^ Annual report 2006: HIT International Trading AG