Artnet AG – Wachstum auf dem Kunstmarkt (Seite 184)

[Gluecksgriff]

Um dieses schöne Wort zu gebrauchen, eine Verhohnepipelung scheint mir zu sein, dass man mit großen Worten ein Übernahmeangebot auf der HV angekündigt hat und jetz scheint nichts passiert zu sein (keine Bewegung im Aktienkurs).

[angoli77]

nöö nix bekannt ... denke auch nicht , dass von artnet was bekannt gegeben wird .. warum auch .. aktionäre waren doch eh schon immer egal

unabhängig davon dürfte das ergebnis klar sein .. 2 aktionäre , nämlich neuendorf und rothschild , haben ihren willen durchgesetzt und allen anderen aktionären die a-karte gezeigt ...

die aussagen von pabst :

"Auch im Sinne unserer Aktionäre lehnen wir eine Übernahme durch russische Oligarchen oder Finanzinvestoren ab."

„Wir haben eine Reihe von langjährigen Partnern, die größere Aktienpakete halten. Diese Firmen stehen hinter dem eingeschlagenen Kurs von Artnet.

ist eine Verhohnepipelung aller freien aktionäre

[gerd03]

Ist schon irgend eine Neuigkeit von der HV bekannt?
Ich konnte leider nicht gehen.
Habe meine Stimmen per Brief abgegeben.
Wuerde mich freuen, wenn einer die wichtigsten Entscheidungen
posten koennte.

Danke!!

[philojoephus]

@ all

Ganz interessante Gedankenspiele (siehe unten). Aus meiner Sicht scheint die Schlacht aber schon geschlagen zu sein, da Redline/Weng offensichtlich nicht die Mehrheit auf der HV haben wird. Bleibt abzuwarten, ob sie es durch Anfechtungsklagen schaffen die HV-Beschlüsse zu kippen.
Die Gegenanträge von Weng bezüglich der Bestellung eines Sonderprüfers könnten auch ganz schön sticheln. Zumal die eine größere Chance haben dürften durchzukommen, weil Neuendorf bei den Anträgen für den Sonderprüfer eigentlich nicht selbst mit Abstimmen darf, weil er diesbezüglich befangen ist (das ist wohl so ähnlich, wie er sich auch nicht selbst entlasten darf).

MfG JE

Skate's rät zu entschlossenem Strategiewechsel bei artnet AG

30.07.2012 Frankfurt Redline Pressemeldung -- Die renommierten Kunstmarkt-Analysten von Skate's in New York haben einen entschlossenen Strategiewechsel beim Online-Auktionshaus artnet AG empfohlen. "artnet ist nicht mehr Marktführer; stattdessen ist das Unternehmen in eine Schockstarre verfallen", schreiben die Skate's-Experten in einer am Montag veröffentlichten Studie. "artnet muss jetzt ganz nüchtern seine Wettbewerbsposition betrachten, zurück auf null gehen und eine neue Geschäftsstrategie entwickeln. Zudem benötigt das Unternehmen Zugang zu Kapital, um in den notwendigen Kurswechsel investieren zu können."
Skate's rät dem künftigen artnet-Management, sich auf zwei Geschäftsfelder zu konzentrieren: Kunstmedien und E-Commerce. Die überstürzte Schließung des artnet-Magazins durch den neuen CEO Jakob Pabst sei ein Fehler gewesen. Das Mediengeschäft benötige sowohl eine Kapitalspritze als auch ein neues, versiertes Management-Team.
Im Bereich E-Commerce sieht Skate's gute Wachstumschancen durch Übernahmen. "Auch hier gilt: dazu bedarf es Managementfähigkeiten, die derzeit bei artnet nicht vorhanden sind, und Zugang zu neuem Kapital."
Skate's warnt vor einer Lähmung des Unternehmens für den Fall, dass sich die artnet-Verwaltung auf der Hauptversammlung am 8. August mit ihren Vorschlägen für Veränderungen in der Unternehmenssatzung durchsetzt. Die dabei vorgesehene Einführung sogenannter "Poison Pills" zur Abwehr neuer Aktionäre durch Errichtung einer Sperrminorität für die Gründerfamilie Neuendorf würde "allen sofortigen Änderungen bei artnet den Riegel vorschieben und das Unternehmen in eine dunkle Periode mit anhaltenden Aktionärskämpfen zwingen", schrieben die Analysten. Verlierer dieser Entwicklung wären die Aktionäre selbst. Das aktuelle Übernahmeangebot und die HV-Vorschläge der Redline Capital Management S.A. öffneten artnet dagegen die Tür in eine bessere wirtschaftliche Zukunft. Den vollständigen Analystenbericht von Skate's zu artnet finden Sie hier.


Skate's Market Notes: Skate's Resumes Analysis of artnet AG - August 8 Annual Shareholders Meeting Set to Seal artnet's Fate - artnet AGM Voting Dilemma Explained; Vision for a New artnet

30.07.2012 -- On May 25, 2012, Skate's suspended its analysis of artnet. At that time, the share price was EUR 5.1, Hans Neuendorf was the company's CEO and the entire stream of news surrounding the firm, its 2011 and Q1 2012 results, growing competition in the e-commerce space and defection of galleries to other online platforms all pointed in a single direction: a continuous decline of artnet and the demise of its business model.
We suspended analysis because Skate's had been retained to advise Redline Capital Management SA, a Luxembourg-based asset management firm and at that time a syndicate of Redline and German-listed Weng Fine Art AG, on developing a turnaround strategy for artnet AG.
Two months later, and the inside information that required Skate's to suspend analysis is now in the public domain. Redline and Weng built a significant equity interest in artnet AG, and the firm's incumbent management responded by replacing Mr. Neuendorf with his son, Mr. Jacob Pabst, as CEO of the business, rescheduling the date of the annual shareholders meeting ("AGM") from July 11 to August 8 and introducing poison pills to the AGM agenda. These poison pills, if adopted by shareholders, would give Mr. Neuendorf veto rights on decisions at artnet regarding any changes to the corporate articles (e.g., structure of the company, major strategy changes, etc), as well as any withdrawals of members of the Supervisory Board, as long as he retains an ownership stake larger than 25%.
On July 23, 2012, Redline Capital Management SA announced its decision to launch a voluntary takeover offer for artnet AG shares, the terms of which will be released in August. While the stock market reacted positively to the initial news that Redline and Weng were building a significant ownership interest in artnet - as evidenced by the share price soaring by more than 20% - response to the tender offer news was muted. After an initial increase of 11% on the day of the takeover announcement (global markets fell sharply by 3-5% on that day), artnet AG's share price came back down and stabilized at around EUR 6.1-6.2 per share.
The market clearly does not believe that the Redline / Weng syndicate can outvote the Neuendorf family and friends at the AGM. If the historical voting positions of large shareholders are any guide, the market's assumption would be an accurate one. Significant shareholders like the Schaeffer family in Hamburg and Robert Rothschild in New York were always supportive of Mr. Neuendorf, and they may well continue to be.
This vote on August 8 is a game changer, however, and Skate's is resuming its analysis of artnet AG today in order to explain why. We also believe that our original reasons to suspend the analysis are no longer valid, as we are no longer party to inside information. Furthermore, the bets have been made and everyone, including Skate's, has the same access to information about Redline's ongoing effort to take over artnet.
artnet AGM Voting Dilemma
Redline and Weng will challenge the Neuendorf family in Berlin at the August 8 AGM concerning two agenda items: election of the Supervisory Board members and amendments to the Articles of Association.
Election of members to the Supervisory Board, which includes only three directors at the moment, is the most immediate battle for Mr. Neuendorf as he tries to retain the existing three-strong board loyal to him. This board kept amazing silence over the last two months as various groups of shareholders were engaged in a standoff, and its views regarding the strategy of artnet AG and the quality of its existing leadership are unknown save for the fact that this current board did authorize the appointment of Mr. Pabst and a consulting contract for Mr. Neuendorf. None of the details of those arrangements is known to artnet AG shareholders. The current board also authorized rescheduling the AGM and did not object to the introduction of poison pills to artnet AG's Articles of Association.
The view of artnet's existing shareholders, like Redline and Weng Fine Art, is that these amendments violate the rights of all artnet AG shareholders except for Mr. Neuendorf. The names of these silent and accommodating current Supervisory Board members are John Hushon, Dr. Walter Rust and Dr. Jochen Gutbrod. Mr. Rust and Mr. Gutbrod have been serving as Supervisory Board members only since January 1, 2012 and their position vis-à-vis the brewing shareholders conflict and their motivation to serve on the artnet AG board and be liable for amending artnet AG's Articles of Association - which some shareholders of artnet clearly see as an infringement of minority shareholders' rights - remain a mystery.
Redline has proposed an alternative Supervisory Board made of Mr. Hans Neuendorf (who no longer has any formal role in the firm apart from his consulting contract - although for some reason he remains the company's spokesman), Mr. Ruediger Weng (the founder and CEO of German-listed Weng Fine Art AG) and Ms. Regina von Flemming, the CEO of Axel Springer operations in Russia and the CIS (Axel Springer is one of the largest German-listed media companies).
Should this alternative Supervisory Board be elected, it would technically gain the power to replace artnet AG's management within two weeks, will gain access to all of artnet's financial information and accounts, and will also be able to hold Mr. Neuendorf liable for his further performance in the capacity of a non-executive board member of a listed company.
This is a clear and present danger to Mr. Neuendorf, whose ideas of succession planning were limited to placing his son at the helm of the company and who always treated investor relations efforts as a liability rather than a duty to foster accountability and create shareholder value.
Mr. Neuendorf's effort to keep the current Supervisory Board in place is focused on the immediate threat of lost control over the management of artnet AG, and it will require all the charm Mr. Neuendorf has to muster in order to keep the current members of the Supervisory Board loyal to him in an environment where their legal position is becoming increasingly vulnerable to litigation on the part of minority shareholders.
The second disputed AGM agenda issue is actually considerably more important, however. When artnet AG management rescheduled the AGM from July 11 to August 8, it introduced a major change to the agenda - amendments to the Articles of Association that, if adopted at the AGM, will require more than 75% of shareholders' votes for any significant decision at the AGM to be adopted. Only Mr. Neuendorf has an ownership interest in artnet AG of over 25%, and it is no wonder why many other shareholders have interpreted this move by Mr. Neuendorf as a poison pill introduced to fight off a potential takeover threat (the takeover by Redline will not yet have been introduced when AGM votes on amendments to the Articles of Association).
The vote on the Supervisory Board is a clear "sudden death" threat to Mr. Neuendorf (using the language of ice hockey), and it opens artnet AG to immediate and positive changes that are long overdue. The voting outcome on the Articles' amendments has a more complex scenario matrix, however, which is explained below:
Neuendorf Wins
Should Mr. Neuendorf prevail at the August 8 vote, as he confidently said he would to the media earlier this week, he will make the AGM adopt the new Articles of Association that would give enormous blocking power vote to the owner(s) of 25%+1 share in artnet AG. This definitely would make any takeover bid unattractive as long as Mr. Neuendorf remains at his current 26% ownership level in artnet AG. It would clearly allow Mr. Neuendorf to successfully fight off this summer's attempt by Redline to acquire artnet AG.
However, this victory will come at a cost to Mr. Neuendorf, with the trade-off being that every shareholder group building an ownership interest of more than 25% in artnet AG could block any decisions going forward, thereby creating a stand-off between the said shareholders group and Mr. Neuendorf. Such a stalemate would make it very difficult if not impossible to make any significant decisions at the firm going forward. This could potentially be dangerous for artnet AG, as its cash position is quickly depleting and the firm could plunge into a liquidity crisis in a situation where its key shareholders are unable to make decisions on recapitalization.
In short, by voting for Mr. Neuendorf's proposed amendments to the Articles of Association, artnet shareholders will vote on August 8 for imminent and protracted shareholder conflict at artnet AG. This conflict could only be softened through stellar management performance that would drive artnet AG out of its increasingly worsening liquidity situation. This bet is hard one to make for even the staunchest Neuendorf supporters today.
Neuendorf Loses
In the unlikely event that some long-time Neuendorf supporters defect and make a rational decision to embrace change in the firm, Redline will prevail in its takeover pursuit provided it sets a price that will make enough artnet shareholders interested in selling.
It will probably take Redline between three and six months to launch and complete the takeover offer, replace the Supervisory Board and replace artnet AG's management. It would hardly make any sense for Mr. Neuendorf to fight after losing the August 8 vote, as it would only further damage the firm's shareholder value and his equity stake in it.
The big question is what Redline will do with artnet AG if it takes it over. While Redline is legitimately avoiding any related discussions as it remains focused on the August 8 AGM, Skate's is prepared to share its own thoughts about a new vision for artnet AG, which may perhaps be of use to anyone who remains in artnet's leadership after the takeover battle is over and the dust settles.
Vision for a New artnet
Shareholders in artnet AG will wake up to a new reality on August 9. Whether their firm will end up degrading into continuous shareholder conflict or whether the AGM will remove roadblocks to change, the company's business and reputation have suffered a near fatal blow over the last year. Prolific e-commerce competition has pushed artnet's online auction into the margins of the online art trade with better funded and more focused competition delivering strong and consistent growth and increasingly killing the first mover advantage long enjoyed by artnet (for details, see Skate's report on art e-commerce rankings).
[/u][/b]Abrupt termination of the magazine deprived artnet of perhaps its most efficient marketing and sales platform, leaving it with no functioning marketing systems in place and a level of service that is desperately outdated-artnet has never built a CRM system, has no client loyalty programs, no cross selling and no upsell programs to push revenue per customer up and stimulate repeat purchase business. The firm has no strategic focus known to its shareholders and no depth in its management team, and, most importantly, it has no access to capital today to match the angel- and venture-capital backed Paddle 8, VIP Art Fair, Artinfo, Artspace, Exhibition A and Collectrium, to name a few. This is without even mentioning deep-pocketed rivals like Art.sy and Chinese Artron.
artnet is no longer the market leader; rather, it is an incumbent in an agonizing situation. It needs to have a sober look at its competitive strengths, return to the drawing board and develop a new business strategy. Finally, the firm needs access to capital to invest in a turnaround.
Skate's believes that artnet should build on its three key skill sets: the price database, its ability to operate from New York and Berlin as a truly international firm on both sides of the Atlantic and the fact it is a public company. artnet AG has no time to catch up and build its missing competencies through organic growth; it needs to put a professional management team in place that is capable of streamlining operations, executing on a well-thought acquisitions strategy and integrating those acquisitions to build a global market leader in an e-commerce space dedicated to art media, as well as art & collectables.
artnet AG should have two clearly distinguishable and independently run business segments: media and e-commerce.
artnet Media: needs new management and capital to rebuild artnet's online properties around the price database.
Skate's is convinced that closing the magazine was a mistake; artnet AG should rebuild its media offering by merging its editorial content with its price database and embarking on a journey to build an art-trading support media model that has been implemented in the past by Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, which successfully integrated data and editorial content in a single suite of information and data services that make those providers indispensable for anyone trading securities these days. [/u][/b] artnet AG never had the right management to execute on this vision. While many of its past and current managers were able to contribute to artnet's media offering, the big picture was always lost. Before closing its magazine, artnet's management had failed to build advertising sales of any significance and was thus unable to develop even the most obvious source of revenue for its media platform. That failure to build advertising reflects a lack of management skill to make artnet's media assets yield the return they otherwise would have in the hands of online media business professionals.
The fact that artnet continues to have perhaps the strongest price database globally should make it possible to build a very competitive media offering around it in relatively short order, however doing so requires new leadership and a certain amount of capital to redevelop artnet's online properties, as well as introduce CRM and other sales-supporting databases to win back customers (and a share of their wallets) that became increasingly frustrated over the years by the antiquated performance of artnet's platform.
artnet E-commerce: rapid growth through acquisitions
artnet's historical track record in product development, e-commerce and customer relations makes it very clear that the firm is unable to compete with e-commerce focused start-ups. Instead, artnet should buy the best of them. The fact that artnet AG remains one of the very few publicly-traded companies with a "pure play art industry business model" is in itself a tempting value proposition to potential sellers of businesses who could retain a significant part of their upside by converting into artnet stock. Furthermore, the ability to integrate new acquisitions with artnet's media assets provides for synergies that make artnet an irresistible buyer for successful, post-revenue art e-commerce operators.
Again, executing on this growth through acquisition requires both management skills not currently present at artnet and access to capital. Only then will artnet's handicapped online offering be transformed into a true and sustainable market leader.
These fairly obvious business strategies to bring a turnaround at artnet - (1) deploying a professional management team for the media segment and focusing on comprehensive integrated media platform business development instead of managing the Price Database and Gallery Network and the now closed Artnet Magazine as three separate segments, and (2) returning to a leadership position in the art e-commerce space through acquisitions-requires a decision to hire professional management and the ability to access capital. Under the current Neuendorf/Pabst leadership the firm has no access to capital and its Supervisory Board has demonstrated its inability to put a professional management team in place.
The vote at the August 8 AGM will slam the door on any immediate changes at artnet AG if Mr. Neuendorf prevails and will force artnet into a dark period of the protracted shareholder conflict. Should Mr. Neuendorf lose to his challengers, led by Redline, this will open artnet up to a transformation into one of the world's leading art media and e-commerce organizations, as well as create a path to shareholder value creation that is so needed after the reign of Mr. Neuendorf destroyed artnet's value to just EUR 30-35 million amid a blossoming art business elsewhere.

[Condo]

Ist der Mann qualifiziert? Seit wann muss man 50 % des Kapitals hinter sich haben, um auf einer HV bestimmen zu können, wo es langgeht?

Soweit ich weiß, reicht die Hälfte des anwesenden Kapitals.

07.08.2012 13:27 Uhr

http://www.deraktionaer.de/aktien-deutschland/exklusiv--in-w…

Exklusiv: In wenigen Stunden startet die Übernahme-Schlacht um Artnet

Florian Söllner
Am Mittwoch findet in Berlin eine der spannendsten Hauptversammlungen des Jahres statt. Gelingt die Machtübernahme der Internetfirma oder können die Gründeraktionäre den Angriff abwehren?

Spannung pur. Am morgigen Mittwoch prallen in Berlin ab 11 Uhr zwei Aktionärsgruppen aufeinander. Auf der Hauptversammlung der Artnet AG wird entschieden, ob sich die neuen Aktionäre gegen das bisherige Management durchsetzen können. Redline und Weng Fine Arts hatten Anfang August über zehn Prozent der Aktien eingesammelt. Besonders Weng-Gründer Rüdiger Weng dürfte den Artnet-Vorstand mit kritischen Fragen attackieren.

DER AKTIONÄR geht davon aus, dass der neue Vorstand Jacob Pabst gegenüber Weng wohl unter anderem zur Höhe der Vorstandsbezüge Stellung nehmen muss. Ein weiterer strittiger Punkt: Der Umzug der US-Tochter in das relativ teuere Woolworth Building. Die neuen Aktionäre sehen keinen Sinn darin, dass ein Internetunternehmen ohne Publikumsverkehr in Manhattan und dort im Woolworth Building Büros unterhält.

Pabst wird sicherlich kontern und ebenfalls kein Blatt vor den Mund nehmen. Dem AKTIONÄR sagte er im Hinblick auf den milliardenschweren Redline-Eigner Vladimir Evtushenkov: "Auch im Sinne unserer Aktionäre lehnen wir eine Übernahme durch russische Oligarchen oder Finanzinvestoren ab."

Wer gewinnt die Mehrheit?

Als Sieger wird diese Partei hervorgehen, welche zur Hauptversammlung am 8. August mehr als 50 Prozent des Aktienkapitals hält bzw. hinter sich versammeln kann. Denn erreicht das bisherige Management diese Schwelle, soll beschlossen werden, dass die Abberufung von Aufsichtsräten nur noch mit einer Mehrheit von über 75 Prozent erreicht werden kann. Gelingt dieser Coup, hätte Gründer Hans Neuendorf mit seinem Aktienpaket von 26 Prozent die Macht, neue Investoren auszubremsen.

Redline und Weng wollen genau dies verhindern und hoffen auf Unterstützung: "Die Verwaltung will sich auf Kosten aller anderen Aktionäre überproportionalen Einfluss sichern".

Doch Pabst bleibt zuversichtlich: „Wir haben eine Reihe von langjährigen Partnern, die größere Aktienpakete halten. Diese Firmen stehen hinter dem eingeschlagenen Kurs von Artnet.

[alois321]

redline bzw. weng sind offenbar nicht in der lage, diesem treiben ein ende zu setzen

wie wäre es, wenn die sich mal vorher mit paar anwälten beraten hätten, welche möglichkeiten neuendorf hat udn diesen dann ausgebremst hätten

für mich eine recht dilletantische vorgehensweise, ohne wirkliche mehrheit schon eine übernahme rauszuposaunen, die nun wohl mit sicherheit scheitern wird

die aktionäre glotzen wie immer in die röhre

[Condo]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 43.457.616 von angoli77 am 04.08.12 19:41:57

Das ist aber noch nicht alles: Mit der Satzungsänderungen kann auch Neuendorf in Zukunft keine Satzungsänderung mehr durchbringen.

[herrmannkrages]

Mal schauen was in Berlin los ist....

[angoli77]

yep ... mit der angestrebten sperrminorität von 25 % kann man sozusagen genauso weiter machen wie bisher ,da man ja selbst 26,5 % der stimmen hält .. fazit : man kann genauso weiter machen wie immer , nämlich zum eigenen wohle und gegen die aktionäre

sieht denn überhaupt jemand eine realistische channce , dass die änderung abgelehnt wird ???

denke die stimmen die bothe übertragen wurden ( rothschild etc.) werden wohl zustimmend ausfallen ( pro neuendorf ) .. alte seilschaften eben *kotz* .. diese r. 12,5 + 26,5 vom opa neuendorf dürften für die angestrebte sperrminorotät wohl ausreichen , da kann sich der russe kopf stellen

[Condo]

Antwort auf Beitrag Nr.: 43.456.500 von Stoxtrayder am 04.08.12 00:30:59

Die Satzungsänderung sorgt dafür, dass Aufsichtsräte nur noch mit Dreiviertelmehrheit abberufen werden können und zukünftige (!) Satzungsänderungen ebenfalls.

Kommt das durch, ist das Unternehmen manövrierunfähig.


Frau Bothe ist oder war die Assitentin von Neuendorf.