Dave Savastano03.01.10
SCM Microsystems d.b.a Identive Group, a provider of products, services and solutions for the security, identification and RFID industries, announced further significant reduction in costs at the Board of Directors and executive management levels.
Independent directors Dr. Boersch and Mr. Wenzel waived their right to receive any form of compensation from the company for 2010, and independent directors Douglas Morgan, Dr. Hans Liebler and Steven Humphreys have agreed not to receive any compensation of any type after March 31, 2010 as an important contribution of their commitment to the cost reduction program of the company.
Additionally Dr. Boersch and Morgan agreed not to stand for election at the upcoming annual general meeting of the company to reduce the size and ongoing costs of the Board of Directors.
Further, the existing employment agreements of Felix Marx and Dr. Manfred Mueller have been terminated by mutual consent, and both Marx and Dr. Mueller have agreed to enter into new employment agreements with Identive at significantly lower fixed costs.
Under his new employment agreement, Marx will serve as the company’s COO. In this role, he shall be responsible for the operational management of the business units of the group with specific focus on driving organic growth of the company.
Dr. Mueller will retain his roles as executive vice president of Identive Group and as CEO of the SCM Microsystems business unit under the terms of his new employment agreement.
Ayman S. Ashour, executive chairman of the board, will assume the dual roles of CEO and bhairman of the board of Identive Group. Additionally, the Board of Directors is expected to appoint a lead independent director.
“I am very thankful to our directors for supporting our commitment to cost reduction and for their sending a clear and unequivocal message internally and externally about their belief in Identive Group and their willingness to sacrifice,” Ashour said. “Dr. Boersch, founder and CEO of our largest stockholder, Mountain Partners Group, has led by example in first agreeing to receive no board compensation and in insisting on not accepting nomination at the upcoming annual meeting. We are thankful for his commitment and trust, and we are similarly thankful for Mr. Morgan’s contribution and in particular for his support in securing the rights of the company in relation to its investment in TranZfinity. The costs associated with the independent board members last year were over US$ 250,000; with these changes, we expect to reduce them by at least two-thirds.”
Commenting on the new executive appointments, Ashour added, “I am very much looking forward to continuing to work closely with Felix Marx as COO. We have operated as such from day one of our coming together and this alignment of the roles came at the request of Felix. Felix is a terrific organic growth leader with vision, tremendous industry knowledge and is very well known in our industry. We will together focus on completing the turnaround and to build the signature company in secure ID.
“I am also very pleased that Manfred Mueller will now have a focused role running our SCM business unit, and believe that the SCM team under Manfred’s leadership with a new range of convergence products and the newly launched thumb-sized PIV readers will contribute positively to Identive Group in 2010,” Ashour added.
“Our cost reduction efforts have been more visible in the financial press but in the industry we are making very important inroads to accelerate further our growth,” Marx said. “Our high quality RFID inlay manufacturing unit TagStar Systems has more than doubled its production capacity and we have expanded our sales resources in identity management within both Hirsch and Multicard. Our newly launched products in the reader area under the SCM brand and in payment systems under the Mybility brand are receiving excellent customer feedback.
"We are in a unique position in our industry and it is very exciting to be part of a leadership team that is building the signature company in identity management and identification technologies,” Marx concluded.
Independent directors Dr. Boersch and Mr. Wenzel waived their right to receive any form of compensation from the company for 2010, and independent directors Douglas Morgan, Dr. Hans Liebler and Steven Humphreys have agreed not to receive any compensation of any type after March 31, 2010 as an important contribution of their commitment to the cost reduction program of the company.
Additionally Dr. Boersch and Morgan agreed not to stand for election at the upcoming annual general meeting of the company to reduce the size and ongoing costs of the Board of Directors.
Further, the existing employment agreements of Felix Marx and Dr. Manfred Mueller have been terminated by mutual consent, and both Marx and Dr. Mueller have agreed to enter into new employment agreements with Identive at significantly lower fixed costs.
Under his new employment agreement, Marx will serve as the company’s COO. In this role, he shall be responsible for the operational management of the business units of the group with specific focus on driving organic growth of the company.
Dr. Mueller will retain his roles as executive vice president of Identive Group and as CEO of the SCM Microsystems business unit under the terms of his new employment agreement.
Ayman S. Ashour, executive chairman of the board, will assume the dual roles of CEO and bhairman of the board of Identive Group. Additionally, the Board of Directors is expected to appoint a lead independent director.
“I am very thankful to our directors for supporting our commitment to cost reduction and for their sending a clear and unequivocal message internally and externally about their belief in Identive Group and their willingness to sacrifice,” Ashour said. “Dr. Boersch, founder and CEO of our largest stockholder, Mountain Partners Group, has led by example in first agreeing to receive no board compensation and in insisting on not accepting nomination at the upcoming annual meeting. We are thankful for his commitment and trust, and we are similarly thankful for Mr. Morgan’s contribution and in particular for his support in securing the rights of the company in relation to its investment in TranZfinity. The costs associated with the independent board members last year were over US$ 250,000; with these changes, we expect to reduce them by at least two-thirds.”
Commenting on the new executive appointments, Ashour added, “I am very much looking forward to continuing to work closely with Felix Marx as COO. We have operated as such from day one of our coming together and this alignment of the roles came at the request of Felix. Felix is a terrific organic growth leader with vision, tremendous industry knowledge and is very well known in our industry. We will together focus on completing the turnaround and to build the signature company in secure ID.
“I am also very pleased that Manfred Mueller will now have a focused role running our SCM business unit, and believe that the SCM team under Manfred’s leadership with a new range of convergence products and the newly launched thumb-sized PIV readers will contribute positively to Identive Group in 2010,” Ashour added.
“Our cost reduction efforts have been more visible in the financial press but in the industry we are making very important inroads to accelerate further our growth,” Marx said. “Our high quality RFID inlay manufacturing unit TagStar Systems has more than doubled its production capacity and we have expanded our sales resources in identity management within both Hirsch and Multicard. Our newly launched products in the reader area under the SCM brand and in payment systems under the Mybility brand are receiving excellent customer feedback.
"We are in a unique position in our industry and it is very exciting to be part of a leadership team that is building the signature company in identity management and identification technologies,” Marx concluded.