Pappenfabrik Obenauf: Company transition completed, future shareholder and managing director starts work
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Alexander Wietasch took over the Bad Harzburg-based Pappenfabrik Obenauf as a shareholder at the beginning of October and will now manage the company as Managing Director. Founded in 1886, the industrial company manufactures high-quality specialty products from solid board.
The transaction was completed on October 1, 2024, with Alexander Wietasch being appointed Managing Director of the company at the same time. After his technical career, the trained mechatronics engineer and industrial foreman trained as a business lawyer and most recently headed the Westminster Group as Managing Director. Wietasch grew up in Salzgitter and is returning to his home region after holding various positions in Hong Kong and Berlin. The previous shareholder Tobias Neidhardt will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity.
New shareholder continues innovation and sustainability course
Wietasch would like to further expand the company at the Bad Harzburg site on a strategically sustainable course. Production processes and product quality are to be further optimized. “I am delighted to be continuing a company with such a long tradition,” Despite the current challenging market conditions, we are very well positioned and can continue our production at a high level. We continue to ensure our outstanding quality.”
In addition to the production of gray and box board, the core business also includes the manufacture of refined specialty products such as water-repellent and resin-reinforced cardboard, which is used to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional packaging. The cardboard factory produces entirely from recycled waste paper. With a closed water cycle and in-house water treatment, the highest level of sustainability is achieved. There are also plans to operate the cardboard factory even more efficiently in future thanks to state-of-the-art energy management.
The transfer of the company was prepared over the course of 2024 with the support of experts and completed on schedule in October. The transaction will create a future-proof solution for the continuation of the company, not only to ensure continuity for customers and employees, but also to ensure the consistent continuation of the innovation and sustainability strategy. Neidhardt is delighted to have found a young yet experienced successor in Wietasch. “My daughter and my nieces are going in different directions professionally, so I had to think about a non-family succession early on. I am therefore delighted that in Alexander Wietasch we have found someone with outstanding entrepreneurial expertise,” says former owner Tobias Neidhardt.
