Ad-hoc | 6 December 2002 15:05

ORBIS AG english

Restructuring of the Management Board of ORBIS AG Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Restructuring of the Management Board of ORBIS AG Saarbrücken, 6 December 2002 — As has been announced today, ORBIS AG has restructured its Management Board. Mr. Ulrich Thiele (41), so far responsible for Product Development, will withdraw from the Company effective 30 December 2002. His tasks will in future be assumed by the spokesman for the managing board, Mr. Thomas Gard (45). Mr. Klaus Kieren (42), spokesman for the board and CFO, will retire from the board on 30 December 2002 but continue to serve the company as an advisor in strategic issues. Public Relations work will in future be the responsibility of Mr. Thomas Gard, while Mr. Stefan Mailänder (41), who is a member of the board, will be responsible for finance. Aiming to ensure long-term continuity, Mr. Kieren and Mr. Thiele have prepared the succession plan jointly with the board of management and the advisory board. By September 2001, ORBIS AG had concluded its far-reaching repositioning. Product development and distribution of the company’s own CRM software was transferred to SAP AG; at the same time, an extensive cooperation was agreed. With the strategic repositioning as a business consulting firm, the business model focuses primarily on consulting. Mr. Ulrich Thiele is a co-founder of the company. He led the development of the strategic software products of ORBIS, in particular the CRM-Software. Following the repositioning as a consulting firm, he has been responsible for supplementary products within the SAP environment, the so-called Add-on solutions, which have added to ORBIS AG’s service profile in its markets. Now that the repositioning as a consulting firm has been concluded, Mr. Thiele has decided to withdraw from the company and take on new tasks elsewhere. He will continue to serve the company as an advisor, however. “We very much regret that Mr. Thiele is leaving us”, said Prof. Wolf-Jürgen Schieffer, chairman of the Supervisory Board of ORBIS AG. “We thank him for his valuable contribution of so many years, and greatly appreciate his continued support.” end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 06.12.2002 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Mr. Klaus Kieren, also a co-founder of ORBIS, has been responsible for the CRM- Software division since 1995. As a spokesman for the board, he has led the company’s going-public in 2000 and played an important role in the company’s recent repositioning as a consulting firm. In his function as CFO, Mr. Kieren has directed the consolidation measures initiated at the beginning of 2002, which have led to a marked improvement in the company’s third quarter earnings. In light of these positive developments, Mr. Kieren decided to look for new challenging tasks. He will continue to support the company as a strategic advisor, however, and accompany ORBIS AG on its new course. The board of management will propose that Mr. Kieren be elected a member of the Supervisory Board of ORBIS AG. “Mr. Kieren’s work and extraordinary dedication have greatly contributed to ORBIS AG’s development from a start-up in 1986 to a listed stock company today. We regret that he has decided to leave the company but are happy that he’ll continue as a member of the family and an important advisor”, said Prof. Schieffer. Contact: ORBIS AG, Heike Erlenbach-Paul, Tel. 0681-9924155 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 522 877; ISIN: DE0005228779; Index: Listed: Neuer Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Hannover und Stuttgart 061505 Dez 02