Lars Windhorst

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Lars Windhorst (born November 22, 1976 in Rahden , East Westphalia ) is a German entrepreneur based in London .

In the early 1990s, at the age of 16, he founded Windhorst Electronics GmbH and Windhorst AG and became known as a young entrepreneur in the German economy. In the first business year, Windhorst Electronics had almost 80 employees and around 50 million US dollars in sales. In 1995 he founded Windhorst Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. and moved his second home to Hong Kong as the group began expanding in Southeast Asia and China. In 1997 and 1998 it was affected by the Asian crisis , which is why a reorientation in the New Economy and Dotcom sector was decided and Windhorst New Technologies AG was founded. With the aim of bringing the company to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange , equity and debt capital was raised from investors . When the New Economy got into crisis and the stock and internet markets collapsed in 2001, the planned IPO had to be canceled and both the group and Windhorst as a private individual had to file for bankruptcy in 2003 . In the following year he became a co-founder of the Sapinda group. After a restructuring and a change of name, your parent company is Tennor Holding BV

Windhorst lives in London and was at times partner and Executive Chairman of the Sapinda Group. At the beginning of September 2017 it was announced that he had to give up his senior position at the company for a short time. The return to the top of the company, supported by a new major shareholder, was announced shortly afterwards.

Life

Childhood and early career

Windhorst wanted to be an entrepreneur when he was eight, and when he was 15 he was writing software and building his own computers. His father ran a stationery shop in Espelkamp . Windhorst converted the family garage into a computer laboratory. He mobilized his classmates to help him assemble his PCs. He later sold the devices in his father's shop and found suppliers for low-cost individual components in China.

First company foundation

In 1993, as a student at the Söderblom-Gymnasium , Windhorst founded his first company without completing his Abitur. Since he was still a minor, his parents would help sign contracts or drive him to work every day. Windhorst became known as one of the most successful young entrepreneurs in Germany and was the youngest representative of the young business generation to be invited to accompany Chancellor Helmut Kohl on trips to Asia as part of business delegations. Business contacts developed worldwide from these trips, which made Windhorst a model young entrepreneur and youngest participant in the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Companies

Windhorst Electronics GmbH

In October 1993, Windhorst founded his first company, Windhorst Electronics GmbH, at the side of the Chinese businessman Ming Rong Zhang. The business fields of Windhorst Electronics GmbH included the import and trade of electronic and computer parts from Asia as well as the distribution of IT products in Germany and Europe. One year after the company was founded, Windhorst Electronics reported a sales volume of 80 million  DM with around 80 employees .

Windhorst Asia Pacific Holding Limited

In 1995 Windhorst moved to Hong Kong and founded Windhorst Asia Pacific Holding Limited , a holding company for the group's business activities in Asia. Its business as a trading and investment group in the electronics sector, industry, trade, real estate and finance was carried out through operations and branches in Europe and Asia (including China and Vietnam).

Windhorst New Technologies AG / Windhorst AG

In 2000, Windhorst focused on investments in the Internet and new technologies and founded Windhorst New Technologies AG .

IT crisis

During the collapse caused by the bursting of the dot-com bubble , Windhorst's company ran into trouble. The Windhorst AG shifted its focus to financial services; the Windhorst Electronics GmbH discontinued the business. At the end of May 2003, Windhorst took an affidavit (previously an oath of disclosure). In August 2004, Windhorst filed for bankruptcy for the three companies Windhorst AG , Windhorst Electronics GmbH and Windhorst Capital Holding GmbH . The opening of the proceedings by Windhorst Capital Holding GmbH was rejected by the Berlin-Charlottenburg district court for lack of funds. In 2010, Windhorst was sentenced by the Berlin Regional Court to a fine of 108,000 euros and a one-year suspended sentence for embezzlement in connection with the bankruptcy .

Further legal proceedings were discontinued in 2009 against conditions. Windhorst undertook to pay a total of 3.5 million euros. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung on January 25, 2010, Windhorst confirmed the economic slump in his business, but stated that he believed the worst was behind him. In the meantime, he makes sure that experienced consultants minimize risk in each of his business deals and he feels ready to continue his business for a few more decades.

The personal bankruptcy of Windhorst was completed in the summer of 2007. According to Focus on September 3, 2007, the complaint of co-creditor Ulrich Marseille was dismissed by the Federal Court of Justice in August 2007, whereby Windhorst is excused.

Sapinda / Tennor investment group

In 2004 Windhorst co-founded the investment group Sapinda. Sapinda is an international investment company that provides medium-sized and medium-sized companies with equity and debt capital. He became managing director of the then Sapinda subsidiary Vatas Holding GmbH . Vatas was involved in the airline Air Berlin and owned shares in the Internet service provider Freenet . At a later point in time, shares were bought in Air Berlin, which increased Vatas Holding's stake to 18.6%.

The company Sapinda handled investments worth more than two billion euros in about five years . The British fund Sapinda achieved high returns and organized investments of around one billion euros. In view of the global financial crisis in 2008, the Sapinda Group and its German company Vatas Holding GmbH recorded losses. In March 2008 it became known that the Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord / LB) had bought shares on behalf of Vatas, which they did not buy after price losses. In October 2008 Nord / LB sued Vatas for more than 150 million euros in damages . In January 2009, Vatas had to file for bankruptcy. In April 2009 all activities were restructured. The parent company of the group became Sapinda Holding BV , founded in 2009 and based in Amsterdam . Because of the Vatas bankruptcy, Sapinda was sentenced in February 2010 for damages in favor of Nord / LB. The largest branch is currently in London. The group has offices in Europe, Africa and Asia, including Berlin, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Moscow and Hong Kong. The Sapinda Group employs around 80 people worldwide. The Sapinda Holding BV is a globally active investment company that invests its capital in long-term strategic investments and manages financial holdings. Sapinda has majority interests in agribusiness and food processing, mining / raw materials, oil and gas exploration and production. Financial investments exist in the areas of media, technology and real estate.

In 2009, the Sapinda Group made investments and transactions worth around one billion euros. According to information from the news magazine Der Spiegel , Windhorst invested in Africa and founded the company Amatheon Agri together with Carl Heinrich Bruhn. According to Windhorst, Sapinda organized investments of around 3.5 billion euros between 2009 and 2012, including bonds for companies such as Air Berlin and Infineon . Sapinda's shareholders include management consultant Roland Berger , and Hubertus von Grünberg , head of the board of directors of the Swiss corporation ABB Ltd, heads the advisory board . Windhorst has been Managing Director of Sapinda UK since 2009 and Chairman of Sapinda Holding BV since 2013 , Chairman of the Executive Committee and partner of the Sapinda Group. In February 2018, his investment company took over the luxury fashion brand “La Perla”. In February 2019, Sapinda took a 76% stake in Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) and saved it from possible bankruptcy . The complete takeover of the shipyard took place in August 2019.

In March 2019 it became known that the Intown Group was planning to sell shares in the Ihme Center in Hanover to the Sapinda subsidiary Civitas.

In May 2019 the company was renamed Tennor Holding BV .

At the end of June 2019 it was announced that Windhorst was acquiring a 37.5 percent stake in Hertha BSC GmbH & Co. KGaA through Tennor . In November 2019, he increased his stake to 49.9 percent and paid another 99 million euros. In July 2020, Hertha BSC announced that a further 50 million euros will be paid in July 2020 and a further 100 million euros in October 2020. After the implementation of this agreement, Windhorst will hold 66.6% of the shares.

Engagements

From 1997 to 2002, Windhorst board member of the Mentor Foundation , a foundation under the patronage of Queen Silvia of Sweden , in close cooperation with the World Health Organization WHO operates.

Others

In December 2007, Windhorst was seriously injured in an accident involving a business aircraft in Kazakhstan . One of the two pilots died when the machine went off the runway after a refueling stop in Almaty , hit a wall and exploded. The second pilot and the flight attendant were also injured. The aircraft ( Bombardier Challenger 604 from Jet Connection Businessflight ) was en route from Hanover to the Macau Special Administrative Region of China . According to the hospital report, Windhorst was lucky; unlike other inmates, he only suffered bruises and burns to his face and chest.

Windhorst pushed ahead with the renaming from Sapinda to Tennor, since the Sapinda founded by Robert Hersov only had a meaning in Sanskrit and Hersov is no longer involved in the company. Windhorst originally wanted to name his new company Tenor . Since this is the name of a graphics search engine taken over by Google in 2018, Tennor was chosen, which is supposed to sound like the Japanese imperial title Tennō .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Olympic city for managers - London wants to be conquered , Manager Magazin Online, July 31, 2012
  2. ↑ Investment company: Lars Windhorst has to give up senior positions , Spiegel Online, September 6, 2017
  3. ↑ Circles: Windhorst Holding Sapinda in other hands - Lars Windhorst remains boss , dpa-AFX, September 7, 2017
  4. ↑ Dear Loser , Spiegel.de, August 20, 2012
  5. ↑ Teenage tycoon earns a place in German legend , The Independent, February 5, 1996
  6. ^ Child prodigy Lars Windhorst moved in at Potsdamer Platz , BZ, October 10, 2000
  7. ↑ And then I lost consciousness , Sueddeutsche.de, May 17, 2010
  8. ↑ Handelsblatt: Creditors will probably have to wait forever for money from Windhorst , accessed on September 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ The court imposes a suspended sentence on Windhorst ( memento of January 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Spiegel Online, November 4, 2010
  10. ^ Proceedings against Windhorst closed , Die Welt, February 23, 2006
  11. ↑ And then I lost consciousness , Sueddeutsche.de, May 17, 2010
  12. ↑ Windhorst company increases stake in Air Berlin , Tagesspiegel.de, January 11, 2008
  13. ↑ Bad purchases on a large scale: NordLB sinks $ 116 million in Utah. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  14. ^ Claim for damages: NordLB wants 150 million from Lars Windhorst. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  15. ^ Application for bankruptcy: Lars Windhorst fails with investment company , Spiegel Online, January 29, 2009
  16. ↑ Investment company before the end: Windhorst company Vatas is running out of breath. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  17. ^ Court ruling: Windhorst has to pay damages to NordLB. Retrieved March 22, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Ex-model entrepreneur: Lars Windhorst celebrates comeback in Africa , Spiegel Online, August 19, 2012
  19. ^ The comeback of Lars Windhorst , Handelsblatt, February 24, 2010
  20. ↑ Lars Windhorst puts together a top committee , Wirtschaftswoche, February 2, 2012
  21. ↑ Stern: Lars Windhorst disempowered in his company (September 7, 2017) , accessed on February 1, 2019
  22. ↑ SAPINDA Holding acquires fashion brand La Perla / CEO Lars Windhorst: Are ready to invest in cult brand , News Aktuell, February 26, 2018
  23. ^ Financial investor Windhorst rescues Flensburger Werft , Handelsblatt.com, February 12, 2019
  24. ↑ Windhorst takes over Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft completely. In: world . Axel Springer SE, August 30, 2019, accessed on September 1, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Financial investor Lars Windhorst wants to buy the Ihme Center. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Lars Windhorst takes off with a new company , manager-magazin.de, May 20, 2019, accessed on June 27, 2019.
  27. ↑ Hertha BSC and TENNOR enter into a strategic partnership. In: herthabsc.de. Retrieved June 27, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Lars Windhorst increases the pressure on Hertha. Berliner Zeitung, November 6, 2019.
  29. ↑ TENNOR is investing a further 150 million euros , herthabsc.de, July 1, 2020, accessed on July 1, 2020.
  30. ^ Philanthropic Activities - Lars Windhorst. sites.google.com, accessed December 16, 2017 .
  31. ↑ Lars Windhorst after the crash in Marzahn. berliner-zeitung.de, December 29, 2007, accessed on December 16, 2017 .
  32. ↑ What Lars Windhorst is up to with his new "Tennor" holding company. manager-magazin.de, May 22, 2019, accessed on October 12, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Windhorst, Lars
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur residing in London
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Rahden , East Westphalia