Pfäffikon SZ, April 19, 2005 – Unaxis’ Board of Directors will propose at its annual general meeting to be held on April 26, 2005, that shareholders elect Mr. Andreas Renschler and Mr. Heinrich Fischer as new members of the company’s Board of Directors.
Heinrich Fischer, born in 1950, is a Swiss citizen and has been the Delegated Member of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Saurer AG since 1996. In that capacity, he has played a significant role in the reorientation of Saurer, taking that company back onto the path of success. Fischer studied applied physics and electrical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and received his MBA from the University of Zurich. After graduating, he was involved for four years in research and development in the field of electrical engineering. From 1980 through 1990, he was Staff Head of Technology and responsible for the Coating Equipment business unit of Balzers, a division of today’s Unaxis Corporation. He was a member of Oerlikon-Bührle’s Executive Board from 1991 through 1996, where he bore responsibility for corporate development. Mr. Fischer is a member of the board of Schweiter AG and, prior to the merger of ESEC and Unaxis, was a member of the ESEC Holding AG Board of Directors.
Andreas Renschler, born in 1958, is a German citizen and, as a member of the board of DaimlerChrysler AG since October 2004, heads up the Commercial Vehicles Division. He is also a board member of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation. Andreas Renschler studied economic engineering at the Technical College of Esslingen and business management at the Eberhard-Karls University in Tübingen. In 1988, he joined the Organization and Data Processing department of the former Daimler-Benz AG. Since then, he has been active in various international functions on behalf of the company. Prior to assuming responsibility for the Commercial Vehicles Division, he was Executive Vice President in charge of the MCG Business Unit smart and President of the Management Board of smart GmbH.
Thanks to his profound experience in the industrial sector as well as his specific knowledge of Balzers and ESEC, Heinrich Fischer represents a competent addition to Unaxis’ Board of Directors. Andreas Renschler is a specialist in the automotive industry, which is becoming increasingly important for Unaxis. Thus both gentlemen bring valuable skills to the Unaxis Board of Directors and are well acquainted with the special challenges involved in the restructuring of multinational high-tech companies.
With its current composition and the additional election of Heinrich Fischer and Andreas Renschler, Unaxis will have a Board of Directors that is capable of arriving at decisions rapidly, incorporates a broad range of management experience, and has competency in various markets and specialized business fields.
This media release is based on information currently available to management. The forward-looking statements contained herein could be substantially impacted by risks and influences that are not foreseeable at present, so that actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, expected, or projected.
