Keystone
—
Selecta machine in front of the headquarters in Kirchberg BE.
——
Make the day work, is the slogan from the Swiss machine operator Selecta. The day’s work did not end in harmony for top executives, but with a bang.
–
The CEO and the Chairman of the Board of Directors were rudely adopted on Tuesday, with immediate effect, as stated in an internal announcement, which is available in the Handelszeitung. But not only the two key managers David Hamill and David Flochel disembark, it is said that further departures are imminent.
–
KKR is showing impatience
The latest company chronicle is now taking another dramatic turn. The main player is the American investment company KKR. She joined Selecta 5 years ago – full of courage and ambition – but the Americans have not been happy so far.
–
Now their patience seems to be exhausted, so they take the wheel themselves with all their strength. New York financial specialist Joe Plumeri now acts as the new executive board chairman and Christian Schmitz takes over as the new CEO.
–
Plumeri is a consultant at KKR, Deutsche Schmitz previously worked at Boston Consulting and McKinsey, and finally he joined KKR two years ago. He took over from COO at Selecta a month ago and is now promoted to CEO.
–
The IPO has burst
Selecta is headquartered in Kirchberg BE and employs 9,000 people worldwide, with sales of CHF 1.7 billion. Initially, KKR had its sights set on an IPO in Switzerland.
–
But the Americans surprisingly blew it off last October; allegedly at the last moment it had been noticed that the snack and coffee machine operator was not ready for a big leap. In addition, there has been an enormous debt burden for years, which does not make the company more attractive.
–
Home office is melting sales
The home office regime of Europe’s companies is currently causing a lot of headache for management. The potential customers are sitting at home and will be completely canceled until further notice.
–
Accordingly, sales fell by over 12 percent in the first quarter, and the operating margin even by 58 percent. As a result, the bond is lubricated by 65 percent. The rating agencies are currently unable to gain much from the traditional company. Your Outlook: negative. The duo Plumeri / Schmitz now want to take countermeasures with a rigorous savings program.
–
—
This article was published in the «Handelszeitung». You can find more exciting articles at www.handelszeitung.ch.
—-
