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GEA Group AG

File:GEA Group.svg
Company type	Publicly traded limited company
Traded as	FWB: G1A MDAX Component
ISIN	DE0006602006
Industry	Food industry
Founded	1881; 143 years ago (1881)
Headquarters	Düsseldorf, Germany
Key people	Stefan Klebert (CEO), Klaus Helmrich (Chairman of the Supervisory Board),[1]Markus A. Ketter (Chief Financial Officer),[2] Steffen Bersch (Member of the Executive Board),[3]
Revenue	€4,828 million (2018)[4]
Operating income	€518 million (2018)[4]
Number of employees	18,642[4]
Website	www.gea.com

GEA Group AG (Gesellschaft für Entstaubungsanlagen) is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2018, GEA generated consolidated revenues of around EUR 4.8 billion. The food and beverages sector accounted for around 70 percent of this total. The company is listed on the German MDAX.

Business and industries

Since June 2015, GEA Group operates under a new integrated group structure,^[5] which unifies country organizations and brings together the operational sales and service activities into one organization at a country level. Industries GEA focuses on: Beverages, Food, Dairy Farming, Dairy Processing, Pharma, Marine, Lan-based transportation, Oil & Gas, Environment, Power, Distribution & Storage, Leisure & Sport.

History

The ancestor of today's GEA AG was Metallgesellschaft AG (MG), established as a metal trading company in 1881 in Frankfurt am Main in 1881 by Wilhelm Merton together with Leo Ellinger (born November 21, 1852 in Frankfurt am Main; died July 16, 1916 there).^[6][7]

Between 1881 and 1914, MG was already represented on all continents, and invested in mines and metallurgical plants. Due to World War I, it lost a large proportion of foreign investments and started chemical trading. In 1920, Gesellschaft für Entstaubungsanlagen (GEA) was founded by Otto Happel, to produce de-dusting equipment.

Nazi era

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Alfred and Richard Merton were expelled from all public offices by the National Socialists because of their Jewish origins. ^[8]Alfred emigrated to the USA in 1934, Richard was imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp during the November pogroms in 1938. His private property was confiscated, and he himself was able to flee with his family to London in 1939. Subsequently, as part of the Aryanization process, the German Reich appointed a state commissioner as chairman of the board of the company, which was important for the war economy.

In 1946, the Metallgesellschaft participated in the founding of the Frankfurter Trümmerverwertungsgesellschaft (Frankfurt Rubble Utilization Company), which received attention throughout Germany and the world. From 1949 to 1960, the company's processing and utilization plant for rubble in Frankfurt-Bornheim produced building materials for the reconstruction of some 100,000 buildings destroyed in the air raids on Frankfurt.

In 1947, the OMGUS repor^[9]t determined that Metallgesellschaft was not a beneficiary of the war economy. The U.S. investigator in charge also emphasized that the company neither employed concentration camp workers nor specifically participated in the war machine. The company's production facilities were not spared bombing during World War II, but were able to resume operations soon after the war ended. However, the loss of the eastern territories meant that the company lost an important raw materials market.

Richard Merton returned from exile to Frankfurt in 1948 and became a member of the company's Supervisory Board.^[10] The growing demand for raw materials during the post-war period initially led to a revival of the trading business. In the 1950s and 1960s, plant engineering became another focus of business activity alongside trading and production. During the remainder of the postwar period, the company developed into a conglomerate that invested and grew in a variety of industries. In 1965, the Group generated sales of around DM 3.1 billion and employed 30,700 people.

Postwar

Due to World War II, MG's and GEA's production facilities suffered an extensive destruction. Production started up again with about 70 employees in a small, undamaged building a few weeks after the war ended. At that time, many business transactions--including salaries--were barter deals. While reconstruction work progressed in the following years, the company was hit hard once again. The day after Christmas in 1948, GEA's founder Otto Happel died. His widow, Elisabeth Happel just eleven months earlier, took over the company's management. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, reconstruction of power plants helped GEA get back on track.^[11]

Following the reconstructions, numerous innovations ensured the future of the company. In 1989, GEA went public and an era of expansion and globalization started. 1991-1995 GEA executed several acquisitions including Grasso, Niro, Westfalia Separator and Tuchenhagen. MG also made a key decision with the acquisition of Dynamit Nobel AG, which resulted in entering the chemical industry.

The 1990 oil price shock caused oil-business loss in the US, which pushed MG into crisis. MG answered with a fundamental realignment marking the transition to an innovative focus technology group. Restructuring entailed a divestment of around 300 group companies and set the focus on chemicals and engineering.

In 1999, Metallgesellschaft acquired GEA AG and in 2000 was renamed to mg technologies ag.^[12] In 2003, the enterprise went through another strategic reorganization to specialize in special purpose machinery with a focus on process engineering, components and plant engineering.

2005 brought important changes again in the form of selling the Dynamit Nobel Plastics business unit and renaming the company to GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft. The reorganization did not stop there. In 2015, the “OneGEA” project was introduced, implementing a new integrated group structure with two main business areas as “Equipment” and “Solutions” as well as a uniform country organization. The technology portfolio expanded with the acquisitions of CMT, Comas and Hilge.^[13]

Environmental policy

GEA's key environmental objectives focus on energy saving, waste and emission reducing solutions, recognizing the importance of sustainable economy and development.

GEA is an alliance member of ”Blue Competence”,^[14] an initiative of the German Engineering Association (VDMA). The members of the initiative have pledged to develop and/or promote sustainable engineering solutions in harmony with economic, ecological, and societal needs. It counts almost 400 alliance members.

Social responsibility

The company has a corporate policy in place in terms of quality, health, safety & environment to ensure the general well-being of its employees. In order to implement this policy, several organizational units have installed management systems certified in accordance with ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and/or ISO 50001.

GEA uses a so-called Integrity System,^[15] through which employees and external third parties are given the possibility to directly report compliance issues or violations of the general principles of social corporate responsibility (Code of Conduct), which was adopted in 2007 together with its European Works Council. This system allows anonymous reporting when it is permitted in the country in question. It comprises only reporting categories that embrace a substantial risk to the company, its employees and all other stakeholders. Likewise, GEA welcomes the principles of the UN Global Compact initiative.

See also

• Automated milking

References

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