People
Fintech: Peter Thiel participates in Zinspilot
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and the first institutional investor in Facebook, is expanding his involvement in German FinTech companies. He invests in the Hamburger FinTech company Deposit Solutions, which operates the platform "Zinspilot". The company has not divulged details of Thiel’s financial commitment but it completes the round of a total financing of 6.5 million Euros of which the lion’s share came from FinTech Investor FinLab AG. Deposit Solutions is one of the portfolio companies of FinLab AG. According to the company Deposit Solutions offers the first open architecture on overnight and fixed-term deposits in Europe. The company's goal is as simple as it is ambitious, to "reinvent" nothing less than the 9 trillion Euro heavy European market for private savings. Thiel had already invested in German FinTech startups like EyeEm, Kreditech and Number 26 before joining Zinspilot as the portal "Gründerszene" reported. According to Gründerszene shareholders of Deposit Solutions include the venture capital investor e.Ventures, as well as business angels Stefan Wiskemann, Stefan Glänzer and Christoph Linkwitz.
New managing director for HHLA subsidiary CTD Intermodal
There is a change in management at CTD Container-Transport-Dienst GmbH. Ralph Frankenstein (44) previously CTD sales director is the new managing director taking the place of Marcus Bönning (45), who resigned amicably and at his own request on 31 December 2015.
Klaus-Dieter Peters, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at CTD and Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) said: “We are delighted to be able to appoint in Mr. Frankenstein such an experienced and expert Managing Director at CTD. Mr. Frankenstein has been familiar with the industry and operating activities at CTD for a long time.” Peters thanked the previous Managing Director of CTD, Marcus Bönning, for his many years of successful work and wished him all the best for the future.
CTD Container-Transport-Dienst belongs to the Intermodal segment at HHLA. The companies in this business unit increased their operating result (EBIT) in the first nine months of 2015 by almost 100 percent over the same period in the previous year to a joint 44.0 million Euros and their revenue increased by 3.6 per-cent to 272.8 million Euros. The transport volume of HHLA’s Intermodal companies grew by 2.4 percent to 996 thousand standard containers (TEU).
CTD is the market leader for container transfer inside the Port of Hamburg and also transports containers throughout Germany and Europe.
Francotyp-Postalia: Günther steps into the CEO slot
The wind of change is blowing at the top echelons of Francotyp-Postalia Holding. Effective 11 January 2016, Hans Szymanski will step down as spokesperson member of the executive board. The new member of the board and also its chairperson is Andreas Günther who was CFO of Jenoptik AG from 2012 to 2015. He will take on the responsibility for the finances of Francotyp-Postalia. Szymanski joined the executive board of Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG in 2008.
Klassik Radio: Play it again
The Supervisory Board of Klassik Radio AG voted unanimously to renew the appointment of Ulrich R. J .Kubak as managing director of the executive board for a further five years, until 10 January 2021. At present Kubak is the only member of the executive board.
Nordex: CFO defects to Hella
The board of partners of HELLA KGaA Heuck & Co. has appointed Bernard Schäferbarthold (45) presently CFO with Nordex SE to its executive board as comptroller and head of finance. Schäferbarthold will take the place of Dr. Wolfgang Ollig who is resigning on amicably agreed terms in order to seek out new opportunities. After working in auditing and chartered accountancy for auditors Warth & Klein, Schäferbarthold joined Nordex in 2005, where he was appointed CFO in 2007.