HOME ENGLISH GAW Industrieholding is a medium-sized industrial group with a focus on industrial leadership and the long-term development of its group companies. The company’s roots can be traced back to the industrialist Erhardt Pildner-Steinburg and his sons Jochen & Jörg Pildner-Steinburg, whose success since as far back as the early 1950s has been built on future viability, independence and continuity. In practical application of these principles, GAW Industrieholding’s strategy is based on three pillars: • Future-proof investments - long-term investment strategy • Industrial leadership - active development of its equity interests through personal commitment • Development of own managers Future-proof investments - long-term investment strategy An equity interest of more than fifty percent is a precondition for our involvement. In contrast to private equity companies, GAW Industrieholding pursues a long-term investment strategy. Our investments guarantee continuity. The long-term development of the group companies is the main driving force behind our efforts, while the strengthening of medium-sized industrial companies is of crucial importance to us. Last but not least, it is for this reason that we not only enjoy the confidence of our partners, but also secure the commitment and motivation of employees, customers and suppliers. We look to acquire equity interests in medium-sized companies: • with innovative technological special and niche solutions • with high differentiation and development potential and • with intelligent technology which complements our group companies Industrial leadership – active development of equity interests through personal commitment The leadership offered by GAW Industrieholding expresses itself through operationally active and decidedly entrepreneurial action. We are not managers, we are entrepreneurs. Our style is characterised by a high level of personal commitment and close cooperation with senior management and the local management teams, and by many decades of experience. Our knowledge extends across a large number of different sectors and industries, with a clear focus on mechanical and plant engineering. Development of own managers The continuous development of skilled internal managers to fill key positions within the group provides the resources necessary to successfully drive steady growth in line with our objectives and to secure that growth in the long term. We place particular emphasis on this strategy, which has always proven successful. You are invited to read about strategy, organizational development and cooperation between the group companies in the editions of our “imteam - the GAW Group Magazine” circle:hover { fill: white; opacity:0.5; } GAW Group The GAW Group is a group of technology companies operating worldwide focussing on paper-, plastics industry and automation. The overall portfolio of the GAW Group includes plant construction, products and industrial services, and serves nine essential markets in almost every region of the world: plastics, paper, automotive, chemicals, infrastructure, building materials, food, medical engineering and optoelectronics. The 600 employees of the GAW Group can draw on more than six decades of experience in industrial plant construction, mechanical engineering, industrial services and automation. As a worldwide operating company network for industrial plant and mechanical engineering construction, GAW Group offers innovative and customized designed complete solutions all from one hand. The grouping of resources in the company network creates valuable synergies, for the advantage of our customers. A substantial part of the worldwide production of coated paper and board is achieved using processing equipment from GAW technologies. Global market leading automobile manufacturers rely on conveyor technology developed by GAW. Special machinery and recycling units from the GAW companies in the plastics division are successfully established throughout the world. On UNICOR production lines, plastic profiles are being manufactured that are making a significant contribution towards resolution of our future challenges as water pipes, tubes in medical applications and protective conduits for fibre glass cables. Durable high-tech plastics are being made with ECON machines. We close the cycle of recyclable plastic by using the innovative systems engineering from LÖMI to transform plastic packaging waste into plastic that is as good as new. Solutions for digital networking and automation of complex production processes and self-optimising processes – have been steadily promoted by AutomationX. As an international group for industrial engineering and plant construction GAW GROUP offers innovative and customized designed complete solutions all from one hand. The grouping of resources in the company network creates valuable synergies, for the advantage of our customers. Our Companies All Branches 2 1 AUSTRIA GAW Beteiligungs GmbH GAW technologies GmbH AutomationX GmbH ECON GmbH Spedition THOMAS GmbH Robooptic Systems GmbH GERMANY OSMO Membrane Systems GmbH UNICOR GmbH LÖMI GmbH RUSSIA OOO GAW RUS THE TEAM After completing his Higher Technical Education Institute studies in telecommunications and graduating in business administration with a major in controlling and business management, Robert Assl-Pildner-Steinburg joined the family-run business in 1999. At the beginning of his activities, he was responsible for the operational management of accounting and controlling at GAW technologies, interfacing with shareholders, management and the foreign subsidiaries as well as banks, tax consultants and auditors. In the industrial holding company, he was then put in charge of corporate accounting and also played the leading role in supporting company acquisitions. In doing so, he gained extensive experience in dealings with entrepreneurs, financial investors, banks, M&A advisors and lawyers. Active involvement in the introduction of controlling and SAP ERP systems should be emphasised as the main tasks that arise in post-merger integration. Thanks to his high level of personal commitment and close cooperation with senior management and with local management teams, he has developed a deep understanding of the needs and interests of individual companies. In 2017 the GAW Group gained a trustworthy and reliable partner in strategic corporate development in the form of the RAG-Foundation Investment Company. In the context of the transaction, he had prime responsibility for the sale process. At GAW Beteiligungsgesellschaft, which was newly founded as a result of this and shapes the orientation and development of the group, Robert Assl-Pildner-Steinburg is responsible for Finance, HR and Central Services. Following his commercial training at HAK, Alexander Rinderhofer graduated in polymer engineering and science at the University of Leoben. Seine berufliche Laufbahn beginnt er in den Forschungs- und Entwicklungsbereichen namhafter Großkonzerne mit den Schwerpunkten Kunststoff-Rheologie und Stahl-Kunststoff-Verbundwerkstoffe. As technical director of an Austrian industrial group, Alexander Rinderhofer is active in the composites division, where he is responsible for the development and implementation of the global technological strategy from the raw material through to the application of the products. While pursuing his career, he completed his MBA studies at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, with focuses on strategic development and strategic marketing as well as technology sales and management. Subsequently, further appointments as CEO at companies in strong need of change and restructuring in the plant engineering and electronics segment enhanced Mr. Rinderhofer’s technical and business skills. In 2017 Alexander Rinderhofer was appointed as one of managing directors of GAW Beteiligungsgesellschaft, where he is responsible for innovation, technology and sales. You are invited to read about our management team and group companies in the very latest edition of „imteam – das GAW Gruppenmagazin“. RESPONSIBILITY The principle of social responsibility – to satisfy the needs of today’s generation without limiting the opportunities for future generations – is a central part of the corporate policy of the GAW Group. An important goal is social progress, which is achieved on the basis of ecological balance. Social responsibility and sustainable development are important foundations for the success of the GAW Group, and therefore the company’s policies are aligned accordingly. We are convinced that economic success and social and ecological responsibility are inseparably associated with each other. We act in a responsible way in the market, and also when it comes to our employees, the community and the environment. Social responsibility is not a flattering public relations exercise to us, but a management principle with a value system in support of sustainable development. RESPONSIBILITY PUT INTO PRACTICE IN THE THIRD GENERATION The vision of the founder Erhardt Pildner-Steinburg paved the way for the sustainability strategy we embody today, which can be traced back to the business philosophy he established more than 60 years ago. Our operational approach links economic, social and environmental strategies together, harmonises the needs of our stakeholders and enables us to manage a customer-focused group of companies – in the present and also in the future. TEAM SPIRIT – IN THE GROUP AND IN SPORTS The sponsorship activities of the GAW Group focus on especially demanding and challenging sports, as well as activities for supporting the community at regional level. Summiteers conquering Mount Everest, extreme mountain bikers in the toughest races in the world, euphoria in the ice hockey stadium or goose-bump moments in a concert hall – the GAW Group enables all of these. We also support numerous associations, both regionally and locally. The GAW Group thus accompanies many talents on their way to the top, starting at the beginning of their careers. MORE THAN “JUST” SUSTAINABILITY The business model of the GAW Group was already oriented towards sustainability long before the word became a fashionable term. Our aim is to create permanent added value for all stakeholders, without limiting ourselves to only monitoring the impact on the environment. We want our customers to benefit from our experience and our force of innovation, and in return this will mean a secure future for our employees. Companies such as the GAW Group therefore aim for open, free markets with stable societies and a fair distribution of the economic benefits. HERITAGE The company’s beginnings In 1951 Erhardt Pildner-Steinburg founded a sole proprietorship with five employees. It was simply a component manufacturer: drive elements for woodworking machinery together with valves and knife-gate valves for the Austrian paper industry. In other words, fittings, also called armatures. Accordingly, GAW (Grazer Armaturen Werk) had nothing to do with bathtubs or wash basins, but with machinery and plant from day one. In the mid-60s, the firm entered the industrial plant construction sector with one of the first kaolinite processing plants for the Steyrermühl paper factory in Upper Austria. The company’s founder passed away in 1974. His sons, Jochen Pildner-Steinburg and Jörg Pildner-Steinburg, work together to continue successfully along the path he laid out. Systems were developed from individual parts, close cooperation was established with Voith, Andritz and Escher-Wyss, the world’s biggest manufacturers of paper machines, and the company entered the market on all five continents at a time when, in Austria, holidaying on the Adriatic beaches of Northern Italy was still regarded as the height of international activity. „Very early on, we were not afraid of foreign markets, and moved into Tanzania, Kenya and China. Countries where it is hard to get things done and where people work seven days a week”. The company, which was originally managed firmly and in a patriarchal manner, was given a new future orientation - from a standing position, so to speak. Key strategic decisions and much hard work followed, as it was clear to everyone involved that entrepreneurial success is not like a lottery prize. When employees drive past the company on a Saturday, they can be sure that their bosses are hard at work. That is why the employees respect their bosses. They know that they are also securing their jobs. Key corporate decisions – the path to today’s GAW Group One key corporate decision on the path to today’s GAW Group is, in terms of developing the necessary technology, the stony path from being a component manufacturer for the mechanical engineering industry to becoming a supplier of complex systems for turnkey plants for the paper industry. This requires not only technological, but also strategic courage, because it means competing with the world’s major suppliers. How can anyone survive that unscathed? Courage, uncompromising financial stability and a niche strategy in which, in a relatively small segment, one achieves technological superiority which is so self-evident that even the big players would rather cooperate than go on the offensive. When the group’s export activities began to grow in the 80s, it faced the challenge of developing the export department in line with this. So why not combine the necessary with what is beneficial to the enterprise? Thus it was that a freight forwarding company was promptly founded in cooperation with an experienced partner, Karl Frühauf, one which went onto become a logistics provider with global contacts and partners throughout the world. The industry quickly became a truly international adventure. South America, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan. Subsidiaries were established in Canada, the USA, South Africa, Brazil, while the first orders from China and India were placed. The next step on the road to today’s GAW Group was taken in the 90s, which saw the diversifying of the company’s operations. It’s no good putting all one’s eggs in one basket when it comes to the future of a growing company. Drawing on the company’s core competence in plant construction, GAW expanded the product range to include paint processing systems for the automotive industry. Since the 2000s, further expansion has been undertaken through the acquisition of more companies. What had previously been purely endogenous growth has been augmented and additional ways to enhance the structure of a family-run company have been explored. In addition to the core sector, Pulp and Paper, the group now serves Plastics, Automotive, Automation and Chemicals. Industrial leadership and long-term development A closer look at the structure of the Plastics and Automations divisions provides a good illustration of GAW Industrieholding’s style. It is characterised by industrial leadership and the long-term development of the group companies. With outstanding personal commitment and in close cooperation with local management, the managers become involved in the running of the company. For it is entrepreneurs who are at work here, not managers. The companies acquired receive strategic and operational support, are networked intelligently and undergo a process of continuous internationalisation. SThus, within just a few years the companies that make up the GAW Group become technology leaders in machine manufacturing for the plastics production and processing industry. The guaranteed continuity of investment by GAW Industrieholding is best illustrated by the Automation division. As a customer and partner from the outset, a company set up from scratch in the 1990s was able to enter the conservative Pulp and Paper sector. Under a succession arrangement, the company - now well established - then became part of the GAW Group in the 2010s. Today, the group company already creates automation solutions for the Infrastructure, Food, Manufacturing and Construction Materials sectors. It almost goes without saying that this development also leaves its mark on the headquarters in Graz-Puntigam. Millions are being invested in the site to ensure the new company has the premises and facilities it needs. After 42 years of entrepreneurial activity, the Pildner-Steinburg brothers, in consultation with the highest operational levels of the company, have decided to pass on their life’s work as entrepreneurs and dedicate themselves fully to their plans for GAW Industrieholding. “Back then, when we took the firm over from our father, we had 50 employees and a turnover of 25 million schillings. Today, we are no longer talking about the Grazer Armaturenwerk, which was founded 65 years ago, but about a GAW Group which operates worldwide, employing more than 500 people and generating sales of 102 million euros”, say the brothers as they look back on what they have achieved. Family-run industrial holding Their impressive entrepreneurial achievements have been recognised with very many awards. For example, they received the Austrian Export Prize as “best family-run company”, as “hidden champion”, as “leader in innovation” and finally for their “life’s work”, to name but a few. Seamless transfer to the new management will be achieved thanks to the continuous development of skilled internal managers to fill key positions within the group. The Pildner-Steinburg brothers are accompanying this process with their rich entrepreneurial experience and good judgement. RAG aquires interest In 2017, the RAG-Stiftung Beteiligungsgesellschaft invests in the GAW Group as part of its long-term investment strategy and acquires an interest. The RAG-Stiftung Beteiligungsgesellschaft represents a trustworthy and reliable partner for the strategic corporate development of the GAW Group. CONTACT US GAW GROUP GAW Beteiligungs GmbH Puchstrasse 76 A-8020 Graz AUSTRIA Tel.: +43 (0)316 2704-0 Fax: +43 (0)316 273266 office@gaw.at © 2021 GAW GROUP IMPRINT GDPR