Optics

Stefan Traeger to be chairman of Jenoptik Group for five more years

July 30, 2019

Jenoptik's supervisory board also approved the start of a structured sales process for the mechatronics division VINCORION.

John Wallace

Jenoptik's CFO Hans-Dieter Schumacher (left), and its president and CEO Dr. Stefan Traeger (right).

Stefan Traeger, who joined the Jenoptik Group in the spring of 2017 and whose current appointment as the company's chairman of the executive board run until 2020, has been confirmed as Jenoptik's chairman for a further five years. The confirmation came at a meeting on July 29, 2019 of the company's supervisory board.

Since 2017, Traeger and CFO Hans-Dieter Schumacher have together initiated and implemented a strategic realignment and focusing of Jenoptik under the motto "More Light." This includes a new market-oriented organizational and management structure, as well as measures to boost innovation and increase global reach. In the last two years, key acquisitions were completed and new record figures were achieved in revenue, order intake, and earnings.

The Jenoptik executive and supervisory boards are now considering the potential sale of all shares in the VINCORION division, which runs the Group's mechatronics business. The proceeds from the potential sale of VINCORION will be used to expand the company’s international reach and vertical integration, particularly in the strategic growth regions of the Americas and Asia.

"We want to optimize the product portfolio and gain access to new customers and markets through bolt-on and transformatory acquisitions," says Traeger, adding that "the mechatronics business operated under the brand name of VINCORION will then have the chance to grow successfully with a new owner."

One of Jenoptik's strategic measures carried out in the 2018 fiscal year involved the reorganization of the business structure within the Group. In this context, functions and responsibilities previously centralized in the holding company were transferred back to the then Defense & Civil Systems segment to ensure its autonomous business operations. The new VINCORION brand for the mechatronics business was launched in the fall of 2018. On the introduction of the new division structure in early 2019, the photonics business in the former Defense & Civil Systems segment was transferred to Jenoptik's new Light & Optics division.

Source: https://www.jenoptik.us/press/press-releases/2019/07/29/ceo-und-vinc

About the Author

John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)

John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.