ALSO creates new business segment for Consumptiona

Emmen, Switzerland, July 7, 2017

The ALSO Holding AG announced today that it has merged several areas into a new business segment called "Consumptional Business". This business segment (IT as a Service) encompasses offerings related to Platform- (PaaS), Infrastructure- (IaaS), Software-Services (SaaS) as well as Device-as-a-service (DaaS). The foundations for this approach were laid at the Microsoft World Partner Conference in Toronto in 2012 and since then, the offering has been broadened consistently through the ALSO Cloud Marketplace. The Consumptional Business model will be expanded systematically. "An entire emerging generation of decision makers prefers to use rather than buy software and hardware. The economic and technical advantages of this IT as a Service offering are plain to see," said Gustavo Möller-Hergt, CEO of ALSO Holding AG (SIX: ALSN).  Michael Gericks will assume responsibility for the new business segment. He will further develop the entire value chain of this business area for ALSO's resellers. "I look forward to continuing to work together with Michael Gericks in his new role. He is innovative and entrepreneurial. I am confident that he will successfully introduce and implement a wealth of new offers for our customers," Möller-Hergt added.  Gericks joined ALSO in 2013. Most recently, Gericks was Head of Consumptional Sales. Prior to that, he led Digital Services at ALSO Germany. He has also previously held positions as Managing Director and Product Marketing Manager at a technology company in the financial sector in Mexico. He holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Münster in Germany. 

Direct link to the press release: http://www.also.com/goto/20170707en  

Contact person: Brunswick Group GmbH Simon Hertwig Phone: +49 89 80 99 025 25 E-mail: shertwig@brunswickgroup.com  

ALSO Holding AG (Emmen/Switzerland) brings providers and buyers of the ICT industry together. The company offers services at all levels of the ICT value chain from a single source. In the European B2B marketplace, ALSO bundles logistics services, financial services, supply services, solution services, digital services, and IT services together into individual service packages. ALSO's portfolio contains more than 188 000 articles from some 500 vendors. The Group has around 3 520 employees throughout Europe (annual average 2016). In fiscal year 2016 (closing on December 31), the company generated net sales of 8.0 billion euros. The majority shareholder of ALSO Holding AG is the Droege Group, Düsseldorf, Germany. Further information is available at http://www.also.com

Droege Group (Major shareholder) Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent advisory and investment company entirely family-owned. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs aiming to enhance corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity business model. The group carries out direct investments with own equity in corporate subsidiaries and medium-sized companies in "special situations". With the guiding principle "Implementation - following all the rules of art," the group is a pioneer of implementation-oriented corporate development. Droege Group proves its implementation excellence daily within its own portfolio. The entrepreneurial platforms of the Droege Group are aligned to current megatrends (knowledge, connectivity, prevention, demography, shopping 4.0, future work). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company's development. As a result the Droege Group has successfully positioned itself within the market, both nationally and internationally and operates in 30 countries. More information: https://www.droege-group.com 

Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the ALSO management. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements made here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation, and performance of our Group. The Group accepts no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments.