Karl Mayer’s longstanding managing partner, Fritz P. Mayer, will retire from the company on 30th June 2013 and from the 1st July 2013, he will represent the Mayer family on the Supervisory Board, together with Suzanne Forker. Mayer will be replaced by Arno Gärtner who joined the Management Board of Karl Mayer Holding on 1st March 2013.

When Fritz P. Mayer retires, Arno Gärtner will take over the role of spokesperson for the Management Board on 1st July 2013. Effective of this date, Arno Gärtner (CEO) and Dr. Helmut Pressl (CFO) will be responsible for the management of Karl Mayer Holding.

Arno Gärtner has been a successful member of Karl Mayer’s management team for many years now, and his background is in mechanical engineering. The graduate engineer started his career in the printing machinery building sector. After moving to Karl Mayer Gärtner became the manager of the “Lace and Curtain” division. Later on, he became jointly responsible for expanding the Chinese subsidiary, Karl Mayer (China) Ltd., and became president of the Business Unit Warp Knitting.

“The appointment of Arno Gärtner to the Management Board will ensure that the company continues to pursue all its existing strategies and goals. The tradition as a family-run company will be continued by the family members in the Supervisory Board,” the company said in a statement.

“In the future, too, Karl Mayer will maintain its role as a leader on the world market and strengthen its reputation as an innovative manufacturer with a solid commercial basis.”

Karl Mayer was set up in 1937 and is now a global leader in the production of warp knitting and raschel machines, as well as warp preparation units. The head office of the family-run company is in Obertshausen near Frankfurt/Main. The Karl Mayer Group has more than 2,000 employees worldwide. Since the 1950s, the company has consistently been expanding its international operations. Today, the company has subsidiaries in the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, China and Switzerland.

Karl Mayer operates the Business Units of Warp Knitting, Warp Preparation and Technical Textiles. In addition, the Business Unit Parts and Components supplies quality parts for Karl Mayer’s machines and to outside customers.

The company has excellent future prospects, thanks to its leading position on the market and its outstanding equity ratio, which is rooted in a solid financial basis.