Succession solution with private equity - S-UBG
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Succession solution with private equity

LUMINO GmbH with new management

S-UBG is and remains an investor – for over 20 years

Aachen, 13 January 2025 – S-UBG AG, a regional investment company based in Aachen, has supported the succession process at LUMINO Licht Elektronik GmbH for the second time, thereby ensuring the continued existence of the Krefeld-based company. As part of a combined owner’s buy-out and management buy-in/buy-out (MBO/MBI), the previous managing directors Mario Fullert and Rolf Aengenendt were replaced. The new dual leadership consists of Mathias Schröder (born 1986), who has been CEO since July 2024, and Uwe Weimann (born 1970), who has been CTO since January 2025.

LUMINO Licht Elektronik GmbH develops and produces dynamic passenger information systems for local public transport. Under the new management, the company intends to strengthen its market position and expand primarily into neighbouring countries. A new ownership and management structure became necessary after the previous managing directors Fullert and Aengenendt announced their retirement from management by the end of 2024. In addition, company founder and former Managing Director Karl Ronkholz planned to withdraw from the role of majority shareholder. In this role, he had advised the company strategically until the end.

More than capital: strategic partnership over many years
This is the second time in LUMINO’s history that S-UBG has supported the transition to a successor: ‘We acquired a stake in LUMINO back in 2002 as part of a strategic investment. The aim was to enable further growth through the construction of a new company property and to prepare for the medium-term exit of the founder,’ says Ansgar Schleicher, CEO of the S-UBG Group. In 2009, the private equity fund then supported the first succession when the founder left the management and the management was transferred completely to Fullert, who had already been managing director since 2002, and Aengenendt.

New management: mix of internal and external expertise
The external candidate for the management buy-in was found via the network of
S-UBG network: Mathias Schröder took over the commercial and strategic management as CEO and acquired the majority of company shares. He was previously General Manager of AVX Interconnect Europe. ‘I am looking forward to contributing my experience from the large corporation to LUMINO in order to further develop the company and provide new impetus.’

The future CTO and minority shareholder Uwe Weimann was previously the technical director at LUMINO. Karl Ronkholz will remain invested in LUMINO as a minority shareholder. ‘It was important to me to hand over the management to competent hands. At the same time, I wanted to retain the character of a family business,’ says Ronkholz. ‘Thanks to the support of S-UBG, we have found a solution that lays the foundation for LUMINO’s future success.’

Decades of participation will continue
‘The fact that we can remain invested in a company for so long sets us apart from many other investment companies,’ says Schleicher. ‘This enables reliable planning, which is particularly important for SMEs. We will continue to support LUMINO in the further development of its business over the coming years.’ The new management team has set itself the goal of expanding the software portfolio. In addition, expansion into new geographical markets is planned – beyond the borders of the current core region D-A-CH.

Press contact
S-UBG AG
Dr Ansgar Schleicher
Member of the Board
Market 45-47
D-52062 Aachen
Phone: +49 241 – 4 70 56 – 0
schleicher@s-ubg.de
www.s-ubg.de

VOCATO public relations GmbH
Corinna Bause / Romy Schächtel
Toyota-Allee 29
50858 Cologne
Tel.: 02234 – 60 198 -19 / -23
cbause@vocato.com
rschaechtel@vocato.com
www.vocato.com

About the S-UBG Group:
The S-UBG Group, Aachen, has been the leading partner in the provision of equity capital for established medium-sized companies (S-UBG AG) and young, technology-orientated start-ups (TechVision Fonds) in the economic regions of Aachen, Krefeld and Mönchengladbach for over 35 years. S-UBG AG invests in growth sectors; a high quality of company management is a key investment criterion for the investment company. It develops investment models for medium-sized companies, both in open and silent form, and has many years of experience in the development of expansion financing models, shareholder changes and succession planning (MBO/MBI) and only enters into minority shareholdings.
The S-UBG Group currently holds stakes in almost 40 companies in the region, making it one of the leaders in the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. Further information: www.s-ubg.de; www.techvision-fonds.de

 

It was a special pleasure for us to welcome Dr. Claudia Major to Aachen at the start of the year of our PIN e.V. (corporate network of S-UBG and TechVision Fonds), who gave us a comprehensive overview of the current geopolitical and security situation and gave us ideas on how to move forward.

Key takeaways:
▶ There can only be peace in Ukraine if it is perceived as just. This would not be the case for the Ukrainians if they lost territory.
▶ Europe urgently needs to become more independent, especially because Donald Trump’s re-election cannot be ruled out.
▶ Europe will only be able to gain this strength from an intact democracy.
▶ The old global bloc formation is over. In future, various alliances and parties will be in constant conflict. Whether war will continue to be used as a means in the future also depends on how the war in Ukraine ends.

And on a personal note: it is time for us to stand up for our values again. Each and every one of us is called upon to do so.

It was a thought-provoking evening, but one that was particularly well received in spite of or precisely because of this.

And what remains is the feeling of having met a woman who not only analyzes and communicates very clearly, but who is also a person at the heart of society. And to whom many people should listen even more closely.