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VARTA

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Not to be confused with Warta or Novator (light armoured vehicle).

VARTA AG
Company typePublic
FWB: VAR1
ISINDE000A0TGJ55
IndustryElectrical equipment
PredecessorAccumulatoren-Fabrik AFA Edit this on Wikidata
Founded27 December 1887; 136 years ago (1887-12-27)
FounderAdolf Müller
HeadquartersEllwangen, Germany
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Michael Ostermann, CEO

Rainer Hald, CTO

Marc Hundsdorf, CFO
ProductsElectrical batteries
Websitewww.varta-ag.com
Aerial picture of the Varta Microbattery factory in Ellwangen

VARTA AG (pronounced [ˈvaʁta]; German: Vertrieb, Aufladung, Reparatur transportabler Akkumulatoren – lit. 'distribution, recharging and repair of portable accumulators') is a German company manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.

History

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VARTA was founded by Adolf Müller in 1887, and established in 1904 as a subsidiary of Accumulatoren-Fabrik AFA.[1] After World War I, VARTA together with AFA was acquired by German industrialist Günther Quandt and industrialist and VARTA CEO Dr. Carl Hermann Roderbourg.[2] After World War II, most of the VARTA shares passed from Günther Quandt to his son, Herbert Quandt. The subsidiary in East Berlin was later occupied by the Soviet Union, and was named BAE Batterien.

In 1977, VARTA AG's businesses were split up by Herbert Quandt; battery and plastics operations were retained in VARTA AG, but the pharmaceuticals and specialty chemical businesses were transferred to a new company called Altana, and the electrical business was spun off into a company called CEAG. Herbert Quandt left the company's shares to his children.[citation needed]

In 2002, the consumer battery activities (excluding button cells) were sold to Rayovac. The automotive battery business was acquired by Johnson Controls, and were sold on to Brookfield Business Partners in 2018.[3] The button cell and home energy storage businesses were acquired by Montana Tech Components.[citation needed] In 2019, VARTA acquired back its former consumer battery business from Energizer.[4]

By 2006, VARTA AG had sold all its operating divisions, and the Quandts had sold their shares. VARTA AG then liquidated its remaining assets, contracts, liabilities and shareholdings, in particular the manufacture and sale of VARTA batteries, while continuing its company businesses.[citation needed]

On 19 October 2017, 11,600,000 shares of the VARTA AG were floated on the stock market (Prime Standard), with an additional 1,740,000 bought by underwriters (green shoe), out of a total of 38,200,000 shares. With an issue price of 17.50 euro the company had a value of 668.5 million euro.[5][6] On 2 January 2019, American company Energizer Holdings, Inc. took control over VARTA's consumer battery segment.[7][8] On 29 May 2019, VARTA AG signed an agreement to acquire the VARTA Consumer Batteries business for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions (including the manufacturing and distribution facilities in Germany) from Energizer Holdings, which was completed on 2 January 2020.[9][10]

In 2020, the government gave Varta €300 Million for the construction of a production facility for EV lithium-ion batteries, but the company decided to abandon the project two years later to cut cost. In 2023 they cut 800 jobs.[11] An attack on the IT systems in February 2024 forced the production down for one month[12] and prevented the scheduled Annual general meeting in May 2024 which resulted in an exchange loss of some 8,4 %.[13]

By June 2024 Varta had accumulated nearly € 500M in debt and informed the Amtsgericht Stuttgart about a major restructuring. According to press reports from July 2024, the company intended to reduce its nominal capital to zero, which would devaluate its stock.[11] Martin Buchenau commented in the Handelsblatt in late July 2024, that while minor shareholders are destined to lose everything, major shareholder Michael Tojner and Porsche are entangled in a bitter fight with creditors about who will give up how much of the money they lent to VARTA.[14] Along those lines, in August 2024 a compromise was reached: The shareholders lose their stock, the banks write off € 285M of VARTAs debt, Porsche and Tojner make a new combined investment of € 60M and become the owners of VARTA.[15] The deal was based on the Act on the Stabilization and Restructuring Framework for Companies (Gesetz über den Stabilisierungs- und Restrukturierungsrahmen für Unternehmen, StaRUG) (“StaRUG”) from 2021. Under the act, the majority of the creditors has to agree to a restructuring plan, then the approval of the shareholders can be substituted by a court decision, preventing the sharholders from blocking their own sequestration.[16]

In October 2024, Germany's Federal Cartel Office approved Porsche's acquisition of a non-controlling interest in VARTA as well as a majority of shares and sole control of V4Drive Battery, its business unit for large-format lithium-ion cells for electric cars.[17]

Products

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  • Batteries and other products produced by Varta
  • Poliflex-Accumulator from Varta Microbattery
    Poliflex-Accumulator from Varta Microbattery
  • Rechargeable batteries from Varta
    Rechargeable batteries from Varta
  • Lithium-ion-accumulator
    Lithium-ion-accumulator
  • zinc–carbon battery: monocel with the design of the 1970s
    zinc–carbon battery: monocel with the design of the 1970s
  • Battery from Pertrix
    Battery from Pertrix
  • Varta Pertrix 74, 15-volt battery
    Varta Pertrix 74, 15-volt battery
  • Coin cells from Varta
    Coin cells from Varta
  • Varta combi charger with two Varta NiCd accumulators (2100 mAh, AA)
    Varta combi charger with two Varta NiCd accumulators (2100 mAh, AA)
  • LED-torch light produced by VARTA
    LED-torch light produced by VARTA
  • Varta solar charger model 57082 with two 2100 mAh Ni–MH rechargeable batteries
    Varta solar charger model 57082 with two 2100 mAh Ni–MH rechargeable batteries

References

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  1. ^ "VARTA History". VARTA.
  2. ^ "VARTA Founder Villa Roderbourg history". Villa Roderbourg.
  3. ^ "Johnson Controls sells Varta Battery - Auto Repair Focus". autorepairfocus.com. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  4. ^ "VARTA AG buys back its consumer batteries business". evertiq.com. 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Varta AG − Angaben zum Unternehmen". Frankfurt Stock Exchange. 20 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017.)
  6. ^ VARTA AG beendet Angebotszeitraum vorzeitig und legt Emissionspreis bei 17,50 Euro je Aktie fest, Presse release Varta AG at dgap.de, 18 October 2017 (written in German language)
  7. ^ Manager-Magazin.de: Energizer übernimmt Varta-Batterien
  8. ^ "Energizer Holdings, Inc. Announces the Closing of the Spectrum Brands' Battery and Portable Lighting Business Acquisition". 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  9. ^ "VARTA AG acquires VARTA Consumer Batteries business from Energizer". 29 May 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. ^ "VARTA AG successfully completes acquisition of VARTA Consumer Batteries business from Energizer". 2 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  11. ^ a b Clemens Schreiber: "Restrukturierung auf Schwäbisch", TAZ, 23 July 2024
  12. ^ "Hackerangriff auf Varta: Produktion erst nach einem Monat wieder angelaufen" unternehmen-cybersicherheit.de, 13 March 2024
  13. ^ "Varta-Aktie knickt ein: Verschiebung von Jahresabschluss und Hauptversammlung" finanzen.net, 15 March 2024
  14. ^ "Varta ist der GAU für Kleinaktionäre" Handelsblatt.de, 25 July 2024
  15. ^ "Varta ist der GAU für Kleinaktionäre" Porsche steigt bei Varta ein – Banken müssen bluten, 18 August 2024
  16. ^ Dr. Thomas Hausbeck: "Wenig Chancen für private Varta-Aktionäre" lto.de, published 17 September 2024, retrieved 18. September 2024
  17. ^ Miranda Murray (31 October 2024), German cartel office approves Porsche's sole control of Varta's V4Drive Reuters.
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