Manz AG: Managing Director of Manz Slovakia becomes new Group COO

Reutlingen, May 29, 2019 – Manz AG, a globally active high-tech equipment manufacturer with comprehensive technology portfolio, has appointed the previous managing director of Manz Slovakia s.r.o. Jürgen Knie (49) as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the Managing Board effective July 1, 2019. In his new function, he will strengthen the existing management board team of CEO Martin Drasch and CFO Manfred Hochleitner, to jointly work on the next steps toward a sustainable profitable growth of Manz AG.

Prof. Dr. Heiko Aurenz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Manz AG, comments: “We are clearly delighted that we’ve found a suitable internal candidate for this management board position in Jürgen Knie. Mr. Knie knows Manz AG, with its technologies, industries, suppliers, and customers for nearly 10 years. So from our point of view, he fulfills the ideal prerequisites for the COO position.”

Mr. Knie is moving from Manz Slovakia to the company headquarters in Reutlingen, Germany. As managing director of Manz in Slovakia since 2010, Mr. Knie has been, among others, responsible for the development of the Contract Manufacturing segment and thus laid the foundation for the joint venture Talus Manufacturing at the Taiwan site. Until today, Mr. Knie is also a member of the board of Talus Manufacturing. In his new role as COO of Manz AG, Jürgen Knie will be responsible for the Contract Manufacturing and Service segments as well as Purchasing, Production, and Commissioning.

Martin Drasch, CEO of Manz AG: “Jürgen Knie has been working for a long time with our stakeholders in Slovakia and at Talus. As managing director of Manz Slovakia s.r.o., he has already been involved in shaping the changes in the Manz Group in recent years. He knows our processes as well as further potentials to increase our profitability. So we are happy that he will now support us on managing board level.”

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Manz AG has appointed Jürgen Knie Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective July 1, 2019.
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Company profile:

Manz AG – passion for efficiency

Founded in 1987, Manz AG is a global high-tech equipment manufacturing company. Its business activities cover the areas of Solar, Electronics, Energy Storage, Contract Manufacturing and Service.

With many years of expertise in automation, laser processing, vision and metrology, wet chemistry and roll-to-roll processes, the company offers manufacturers and their suppliers innovative production solutions in the areas of photovoltaics, electronics, and lithium-ion battery technology. The company’s product portfolio includes both customer-specific developments and standardized single machines and modules, which can be linked to create complete custom systems. Manz AG offers high-quality, needs-based solutions that can be integrated early into customer projects to contribute significantly to customer success.

The company, listed on the stock exchange in Germany since 2006, develops and produces in Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, China and Taiwan. It also has sales and service branches in the USA and India. Manz AG currently employs roughly 1,600 workers worldwide, around half of whom work in the Asia region, which is key to the company’s target industries. Manz Group revenue in the 2018 financial year totaled around 297 million euros.

Investor Relations Contact

Manz AG
Axel Bartmann
Phone: +49 (0)7121 – 9000-395
Fax: +49 (0)7121 – 9000-99
E-mail: abartmann@manz.com

cometis AG
Claudius Krause
Phone: +49 (0)611 – 205855-28
Fax: +49 (0)611 – 205855-66
E-mail: krause@cometis.de