Bechtle's board pushes for switch to European company status

Germany-based reseller looks to join Cancom and Econocom in moving from a national to pan-European legal entity

Bechtle's executive board is pushing for a shareholder vote to decide whether the Germany-based reseller will take steps to become a public European company.

The proposal, submitted by Bechtle's executive board, was approved by its supervisory board on Friday and will be put to a vote at the company's next annual general meeting scheduled for 15 June 2021.

If the vote passes, the reseller will take steps to convert into a public European company, dropping its current identity as Bechtle AG in favour of Bechtle SE (societas europaea).

The change will help sharpen Bechtle's profile as a "progressive European IT organisation", it claims, as well as make it easier to involve international employees in corporate decision making.

"In a nutshell, an SE is a corporate form that is very modern and here-and-now, but also a perfect fit for the size and diversity of our international organisation and the interests of our employees in Europe for years to come," said CEO Thomas Olemotz (pictured) in a statement.

Bechtle is present across 14 countries across Europe. Some 3,063 of its 11,487 employees are overseas, with 8,424 working from its home country, according to its 2019 annual report.

Furthermore, the same report shows that 38 per cent of Bechtle's €5.37bn in annual sales now come from its operations overseas, compared with 31 per cent in 2015.

Bechtle's overseas operations grew twice as fast as its domestic business in full-year 2019. During the year, overseas sales grew by 38.8 per cent to €2.04bn.

The reseller has been rapidly expanding its international footprint as of late. In 2018 it acquired one of France's largest resellers in €420m-revenue Inmac Wstore. It has since continued to make acquisitions across Switzerland and the Netherlands and also opened a new UK office in Manchester.

Becoming a European public company would see Bechtle join the ranks of other European-based tech providers that have made the switch in recent years.

French reseller Econocom became a Societas Europaea company in 2016 as it also looked to proclaim its European identity.

German competitor Cancom switched from Cancom AG to Cancom SE in 2013 after it expanded to the US.

Other tech companies including Atos and SAP are also listed as Societas Europaea businesses.