Corporate strategy and Investor Relations
MLP’s independence remains unshakeable
“Our independent advice is one of MLP’s
key factors for success.”
dr. h.c. manfred lautenschläger,
founder and vice chairman of the mlp ag supervisory board, august 2008
The summer of 2008 saw some eventful weeks for MLP. In mid- August the Swiss insurance company Swiss Life acquired an equity stake of just under 27 % in MLP - against the company’s will and without consultation. To maintain independence as a key part of the company’s unique business model, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board at MLP made it clear directly after the investment that no further expansion in cooperation with Swiss Life would take place. A few days later, the Executive Board concluded a capital increase to the tune of just under ten percent of the share capital acquired from three of the most important product partners - Allianz Lebensversicherung AG, AXA Lebensversicherung AG and Uberior Ena Ltd., a company of the British HBOS Group. MLP also suspended its product partnership with Swiss Life to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Swiss Life announced that it would not attempt to further increase its number of shares without the approval of MLP. As such, MLP’s unique business model was secured for the long term - and product selection continues to be made solely based on qualitative criteria.
Acquisition of TPC
MLP AG is strengthening its
occupational pension provision
business segment and
acquired TPC, Germany’s leading
provider of industry solutions
for occupational pension
schemes, on February 29,
2008. Alongside numerous
provision solutions for leading
trade associations, the Hamburg-
based TPC-Group also
offers consulting to larger
medium-sized companies as
well as implementation of innovative concepts such as lifetime
working accounts. “TPC is the ideal partner for MLP,” comments
Dr. Harald Huhn, Head of Occupational Pension Provision at MLP.
“Following the extremely successful development of our business
segment in the last few years, with this partnership we are significantly
increasing the number of attractive association and corporate
clients and also opening up significant common potential.”
MLP plans ZSH acquisition
To achieve targeted expansion of its strong market position among medics, MLP has announced the acquisition of the financial services provider ZSH. The Heidelberg-based company operates as an independent broker, advising wealthy private clients, doctors and dentists in all questions of retirement and financial planning. ZSH was founded in 1973 and has over 20 offices and around 80 consultants who look after some 50,000 clients throughout Germany. “Like MLP, ZSH excels through its independent consulting approach and a clear focus on its clients. This matches our business model perfectly,” says MLP Chairman and CEO, Dr. Uwe Schroeder-Wildberg.
Increased dividends
At the Annual General Meeting in May of last year, the shareholders in MLP AG approved an increase in dividends of one quarter to the level of € 0.50 (€ 0.40) per share with 99.98 % of votes in favour. The total dividend payout therefore increases to a level of € 49 million (2006: € 40 million). More than 1,000 shareholders took part in the Annual General Meeting at the Rosengarten in Mannheim.