Manfred Schneider

METRO AG is a retail company, which engages in the ownership, operation, and management of chain of supermarkets. It operates through the following segments: Metro Cash & Carry, Media-Saturn, Real, and Others. The company was founded on July 25, 1996 and is headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Linde GmbH is a holding company, which engages in the gas and engineering business. It operates through the following division: Gases, Engineering, and Other Activities. The Gases Division offers a wide range of compressed and liquefied gases as well as chemicals. The Engineering Division delivers olefin, natural gas, air separation, hydrogen, and synthesis gas plants. The Other Activities Division comprises operations of logistics services company Gist. The company was founded by Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde on June 21, 1879 and is headquartered in Pullach, Germany.

Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland AG supplies customers worldwide with a range of telecommunications network equipment and software used to build public and private switching systems. It also provides network planning, systems integration and facility management services. Services and products are provided to telecommunications service providers, ISPs, large-volume enterprise customers and smaller businesses. Customers include Deutsche Telekom, Arcor, NetCologne and the German federal armed forces. The company is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC (Clayton, Dubilier & Rice) is a private equity subsidiary of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Holdings LP founded in 1978 by Joseph L. Rice. The firm is headquartered in New York with additional office in London.