Grünbeck Wasseraufbereitung GmbH becomes Grünbeck AG

This year, Grünbeck is not only celebrating its 75th anniversary, but is also changing its legal form and thus its company name - and not for the first time in the company's long history. In 1949, Josef Grünbeck set up his own business as a commercial agency for technical water treatment equipment. This was followed in 1967 by the sole proprietorship "Josef Grünbeck Wasserchemie und Apparatebau", which became "Josef Grünbeck Wasseraufbereitung" in 1975 and was transformed into "Grünbeck Wasseraufbereitung GmbH" in 1980. Now the exact company name is "Grünbeck AG".

In order to further develop Grünbeck's social partnership model, the shareholders of Grünbeck Wasseraufbereitung GmbH decided to convert the company into a public limited company.

The most important reasons and advantages of the conversion for Grünbeck: Thanks to Josef Grünbeck, employee participation has been at the centre of the corporate strategy since 1968. This means that employees of Grünbeck, the plant representatives and subsidiaries have so far been able to participate in the company in the form of a GmbH or silent partnership - and only these. Although the restriction to the previous group of authorised persons remains in place as a result of the conversion to a public limited company, the transfer of company shares becomes easier: shares can be transferred informally and without notarisation. The conversion will also strengthen the brand and internationalisation.

The non-profit Loni and Josef Grünbeck Foundation will continue to provide stability in Grünbeck AG's strategic orientation as the majority shareholder.

As the legal entity will be retained as a result of the conversion into Grünbeck AG, all contracts, agreements and liabilities with Grünbeck Wasseraufbereitung GmbH will remain unchanged. There will be no changes to the overall strategic orientation and the operating business. There will also be no changes in the co-operation for customers and business partners.

Dr Günter Stoll, CEO of Grünbeck AG, comments: "I am pleased that this important step will enable us to consistently develop the company positively into the future. The far-sighted decisions made by Loni and Josef Grünbeck have formed the basis for this."