DGAP-News: Continuity in times of change: CEO mandate for Klaus Weßing prematurely extended

Press release
Bocholt, August 20, 2020

Continuity in times of change: CEO mandate for Klaus Weßing prematurely extended
Supervisory Board of Gigaset AG extends contract until mid of 2022

The Supervisory Board of Gigaset AG has prematurely extended Klaus Weßing's mandate as the company's CEO for a further two years. "During the last four years, Klaus Weßing has led Gigaset out of the red and fundamentally reorganized the company for the future - with an innovation-based vision, a clear growth strategy and a strong focus on digital transformation," says Supervisory Board Chairman Helvin Wong. "With the premature extension of his mandate decided today by the Supervisory Board, we are showing our appreciation for what he has accomplished and ensuring continuity at the company in turbulent times under great pressure to change."

Klaus Weßing was appointed by the Supervisory Board of Gigaset AG as its CEO in December 2015. The premature extension of his mandate was decided on August 20, 2020. It means that Klaus Weßing will remain CEO of the company until mid of 2022.

Since Klaus Weßing's term of office, the company stabilized its revenue again for the first time, EBITDA went up by 280% from EUR 7.5 Mio in 2015 to EUR 28.5 Mio in 2019. Furthermore Gigaset has presented a positive overall result since 2016 for four years in a row.

Immediately after his appointment at the end of 2015, Klaus Weßing began reorganizing Gigaset as a broad-based company with a holistic product and solution portfolio. His vision of establishing a holistic Gigaset ecosystem that connects all Gigaset products with each other and integrates value-adding functions from external third parties into the system significantly shaped the strategy for the next few years. In 2016, Gigaset was the first German company to establish itself in the smartphone sector. In 2017, there was a massive push on expanding the future segments. To this end, Weßing dismantled the silo functions at the company and restructured all the business segments. In 2018, the digitalization agenda began to take effect. At the product level, this was evident with the GS185, the first smartphone "Made in Germany". On the path to becoming a holistic solution provider, digitalization is an essential driver for business success. In 2019, Gigaset prepared itself under Weßing's leadership for the start of its 2025 agenda, which envisaged more aggressive growth in the future segments and addressing new product and solution fields - also through inorganic growth.

"I am very pleased about the confidence of the Supervisory Board in the path we have adopted," says Klaus Weßing. "I would, however, like to stress that the recent successes would not have been possible without the excellent collaboration with my Executive Board colleague Thomas Schuchardt (CFO) and the tremendous commitment of all the employees. Continuity and success are ensured through a common understanding by the management and clear communication of the related goals to the company. Regardless of the current challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Schuchardt and I would like to continue the path adopted by Gigaset in the coming years, pursuing three central goals: Further expand Gigaset's product portfolio, drive forward and solidify the completion of the ecosystem, and have a stronger profile as a digital company, hence creating important synergies and partnerships for our business."
 

Gigaset AG is an internationally operating holding company in the field of telecommunications. The wholly-owned subsidiary Gigaset Communications GmbH is Europe's market leader in DECT cordless telephones and is also a leader in the international arena, with around 900 employees and sales activities in around 50 countries. Gigaset Communications GmbH's business activities also include the segments Smartphones, Smart Home and business telephony solutions for small, medium-sized and enterprise customers.

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