Auden AG: Reyke Schult takes over as new CEO

Berlin - 3. August 2017

Auden AG, the Berlin-based investment company, has a new Chief Executive Officer. With immediate effect, Reyke Schult has been appointed sole member of the Executive Board (Vorstand). Martin Franz, who assumed the position on 26 July 2017 on an interim basis, has stepped down as planned.

Mr. Schult, who brings experience and educational background in banking, will assume direct responsibility for the firm's middle- and back-office functions, including operations as well as legal. The interim arrangement over the past week was needed because Mr. Schult was unable to assume the post until this week. Christofer Radic, founder of Auden AG and henceforth its Chief Investment Officer (CIO), will manage the firm's portfolio and investor communications.

Thanks to the important past work he has done for the investment company, Mr. Schult already has a detailed knowledge of Auden AG and its portfolio holdings. Following the formation of Auden AG in the second quarter of 2016, he led the split-off of the business activities at that time of the Kilian Kerner Fashion Group. He restructured the loss-producing legacy fashion business, an achievement which enabled Auden to bring its full-year reported profit back into the black within barely six remaining months.

'Through my past work in portfolio investments, I had the opportunity to gain a broad base of knowledge and experiences which I will now be able to very quickly put to good use as CEO of Auden, be this to manage and build our investment portfolio or right now to expeditiously finalise our financial statements for the past year,' says Mr. Schult. 'I see myself as a results-oriented manager, and I am sure that organisationally separating the investment business from middle- and back-office functions, as we are now doing, will clearly make Auden better, faster and more professional.'

Mr. Radic, who founded the investment company effectively at the start of 2016, and who until recently served as its CEO, expressed his own views on the new appointment: 'Working together with Reyke will allow me to focus my efforts entirely on the front-office side of our business - on our portfolio companies, our deal flow and our investors. By taking on various other functions, Reyke will free me from those, while also bringing his high general level of competence in these areas, including our obligations as an exchange-listed company. His capabilities will carry Auden long into the future.'

In closing, Mr. Schult added: 'I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead, and I will proceed quickly and with a focus on finding solutions. I am confident that we will quickly be able to restore stability to the company, after the past few difficult weeks, and thus re‑establish ourselves as a true player in the early-stage investments market. In my relationships with our investors, I will draw upon my experience as spokesperson for DSW, Germany's largest investor association, where I have been interacting with a wide range of exchange listed companies. This is a base of experience which will serve me well now as CEO.'

Mr. Schult, who holds a degree in banking, most recently served in a management role at Deutsche Kreditbank AG. For the past ten years, he has represented DSW (Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz) in the Berlin region.

The company expects to announce new appointments to its supervisory board in the coming days and to present for approval its audited financial statements for 2016 as quickly as possible, so that this year's annual general meeting of shareholders can be convened.