Munich When Aldo Kamper took over the management of Leoni four years ago, he was supposed to drive the growth of the automotive supplier. But his new employer quickly turned out to be a case for restructuring. At the beginning of April he will now be CEO of AMS Osram and could again be negatively surprised.
“AMS Osram is a restructuring case,” says an insider. Business was not going particularly well, the integration of the two companies had not yet been successful, and the mountain of debt was high. In 2019, the smaller sensor specialist AMS took over the Osram lighting group. Before moving to Leoni, Kamper had worked for Osram for 22 years.
Especially in the old Osram part, many see the change in management as an opportunity. “It can be a new beginning,” said an employee representative to the Handelsblatt. Predecessor Alexander Everke, who led AMS into the takeover, only rarely sought dialogue with the works councils. In addition, the group was not transparent enough, and many Osram executives left the group. “The need for action is great.”
According to insiders, the AMS-Osram supervisory board around chief controller Margarete Haase also sees the need for a course correction. Her deputy, Wolfgang Leitner, who, as CEO and co-owner for many years, had turned the plant manufacturer Andritz into a successful, listed group, could contribute his industrial expertise.
The new CEO has to build up a powerhouse
But the mission will not be easy. In Regensburg, where he headed the chip division until 2018, Kamper will be welcomed with open arms. “They will use palm fronds to lay out the path from the train station to the factory,” says a company expert.
But Kamper has to build up a powerhouse in many parts of the group first. According to industry circles, for example, he is bringing technology expert Ulrich Steegmüller back to Osram, a confidante from the old days.
The operational challenges are also great. Last year, AMS Osram’s net loss rose from 32 to 444 million euros. Sales fell from five to 4.8 billion euros, also due to portfolio changes.
Net debt was 1.7 billion euros at the end of the year, which was twice the adjusted operating result. Osram will not pay a dividend for 2022 in order to “focus on strengthening its business position in 2023”.
According to industry circles, Kamper must also quickly improve the forecast reliability. This used to be bad at Osram, and the capital markets were repeatedly negatively surprised. AMS used to be better here, says a former employee, but the Osram disease then crept into the new group. “If he wants to regain the confidence of the capital markets, Kamper has to get this under control.”
CEO Everke had increased AMS sales tenfold since 2006 with the help of the Osram takeover. Since leadership style was not without controversy. He steered the company out of Premstätten, the share is listed in Switzerland. Everke said on his departure: “Two years after the complete operational takeover of Osram, the integration of both companies into a joint group is well advanced.”
The head of the supervisory board, Haase, justified the decision in favor of Kamper as the successor: “His technological competence and his experience as a manager form an excellent basis for exploiting the opportunities offered by the combination of sensors and LED technology.”
Kamper knows the challenge he is accepting, says an Osram expert. He has to unite the company and identify future revenue generators. It is fundamentally correct to move away from visible light outside of the car division, where there is little to be earned. The sensor technology business is more interesting. “If, for example, it is possible to reliably measure blood sugar with infrared, that could be a game changer.”
Not everyone around is sure if Kamper is the right person to get the group back on track. “He’s actually not a reorganizer – and he wasn’t particularly successful in this role at Leoni either,” says a consultant who has something to do with the company.
There were always setbacks at Leoni
However, Leoni got into trouble due to bad business decisions before Kamper’s time. The wiring system specialist made progress under the Dutchman’s leadership, but was then thrown back in the corona pandemic and was one of the first companies in Germany to apply for state aid.
Kamper led the chip division in Regensburg until 2018.
The financing concept was then thrown overboard last year when the sale of the cable division unexpectedly burst. Now the banks take control, the shares of the free shareholders are drastically diluted by a capital cut. Some are critical of Kamper leaving the company in this situation. The CEO himself says: “My heart beats for the semiconductor industry.”
The takeover of the traditional lighting group Osram by the smaller sensor specialist AMS was highly controversial. In the meantime, the stock exchange supervisory authority was also investigating suspected insider trading in the AMS environment.
The Austrian company is considered to be less communicative and rather non-transparent. However, against all odds, CEO Alexander Everke went through with the acquisition. Otherwise, AMS might have become a takeover victim itself.
The takeover also made the company less dependent on major customers Apple, some of whose orders are said to have been lost.
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