After the rescue of German cable giant Leoni: KTM boss Stefan Pierer talks to the “Krone” about his investment, his dual role, goals in the automotive industry and what they have to do with India.
Friday the appointment as honorary senator of the Montan-Uni in Leoben, Tuesday the appointments in Switzerland, between the green light for the acquisition of Leoni AG in Germany, a cable giant on the verge of bankruptcy: Stefan Pierer pulls with the usual high number of hits .
He comments on the events of the past few days with a relaxed “it fits anyway”. In general, the KTM boss is remarkably calm when he talks about his new role at the manufacturer of cabling systems for cars, although his empire is now growing in one fell swoop to around nine billion euros in turnover.
Is saving Leoni his biggest financial deal? “No,” he declines. Pierer himself pumps 150 million euros into Leoni. Through a new company, he still takes over debt claims of € 708 million. He hardly sees any parallels with his start at KTM in the early 1990s: “Then we started from scratch. Leoni has a solid, large structure.”
The boss of Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer with the brands KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas is now turning the car supply industry upside down thanks to Pankl Racing Systems (manufacturer of engine and drive parts), SHW (specialist for pumps and brake discs) and now Leoni.
“It Comes As It Comes”
Pierer sees this positively: “I have a network, I know both worlds – that of the car manufacturer and that of the supplier.” His goals? “I am in India a lot. There they say: ‘It comes as it comes.’”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
