MCH Group sells Winkler Livecom and focuses on foreign markets

The MCH Group has to de-invest and has now done so with Winkler Livecom AG. This will make it possible to relieve the burden on 75 employees in a dramatically shrinking Swiss exhibition market. The MCH Group intends to concentrate on the expansion and international orientation of its range of services (Livecom offering). The part of the former CEO René Kamm that was successful and catapulted the MCH Group into the top five live communication companies worldwide will thus be continued.

How the MCH Group Expodata Live Communication As previously stated, there are no plans to sell Expomobilia, which is heavily involved in international business, or the group companies based in Germany (Metron) or the USA (MC2). The Rufener Events brand, which focuses on the Swiss market and has long been the top address among national event agencies, was already integrated into the further developed MCH Global agency in November 2018. Winkler Livecom AG has now been taken over by the members of the Executive Board Christian Künzli and Stefan Mathys and the investor Benedickt Brenninkmeijer.

Benedickt Brenninkmeijer knows the live communication industry. He is involved in Richnerstutz AG together with other partners and was Chief Financial Officer ad interim for one and a half years. Christian Künzli says that Benedickt Brenninkmeijer will support the CFO as Chief Financial Officer ad interim during the upcoming transition phase.

The market for media technology service providers at trade fairs and events (live communication services) is uniquely competitive in Switzerland. A high rate of product innovation constantly necessitates huge investment costs, which have already become a stumbling block for some companies.
The new Winkler Livecom AG has a head start: thanks to its established structures, it will remain a service provider for the MCH Group, Switzerland's largest event organizer, for the foreseeable future. Good luck to the management around Christian Künzli and Stefan Mathys. The necessary goodwill towards the new ownership exists in the market.

Christian Künzli emphasizes that Winkler will continue to be active in creation and conception for its customers in addition to its full-service business. Agencies will not compete with this expertise, however, but will be supported as customers with a focus on technical implementation. Christian Künzli: "As far as our agency clients are concerned, we are clearly positioning ourselves as their service provider, not their competitor."

With the sale of Winkler Livecom AG, the MCH Group has taken a further step into the future following the scheduled cooperation with the Geneva SIHH watch show. Given the pace of restructuring to date, further steps are to be expected soon. The question of how the MCH Group intends to deal with the excessively expensive exhibition center in Basel following the dramatic decline in the "Baselworld" flagship event remains unresolved.

In the picture: the new owners Stefan Mathys, Christian Künzli, Benedickt Brenninkmeijer (from left).