Aerial picture of the Varta Microbattery factory in Ellwangen
VARTA AG (pronounced[ˈvaʁta]; German: Vertrieb, Aufladung, Reparatur transportabler Akkumulatoren – lit.'distribution, recharging and repair of portable accumulators') is a German company manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.
History
VARTA was founded by Adolf Müller in 1887, and established in 1904 as a subsidiary of Accumulatoren-Fabrik AFA.[1] After World War I, VARTA together with AFA was acquired by German industrialist Günther Quandt and industrialist and VARTA CEO Dr. Carl Hermann Roderbourg.[2] After World War II, most of the VARTA shares passed from Günther Quandt to his son, Herbert Quandt. The subsidiary in East Berlin was later occupied by the Soviet Union, and was named BAE Batterien.
In 1977, VARTA AG's businesses were split up by Herbert Quandt; battery and plastics operations were retained in VARTA AG, but the pharmaceuticals and specialty chemical businesses were transferred to a new company called Altana, and the electrical business was spun off into a company called CEAG. Herbert Quandt left the company's shares to his children.[citation needed]
By 2006, VARTA AG had sold all its operating divisions, and the Quandts had sold their shares. VARTA AG then liquidated its remaining assets, contracts, liabilities and shareholdings, in particular the manufacture and sale of VARTA batteries, while continuing its company businesses.[citation needed]
On 19 October 2017, 11,600,000 shares of the VARTA AG were floated on the stock market (Prime Standard), with an additional 1,740,000 bought by underwriters (green shoe), out of a total of 38,200,000 shares. With an issue price of 17.50 euro the company had a value of 668.5 million euro.[3][4] On 2 January 2019, American company Energizer Holdings, Inc. took control over VARTA's consumer battery segment.[5][6] On 29 May 2019, VARTA AG signed an agreement to acquire the VARTA Consumer Batteries business for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions (including the manufacturing and distribution facilities in Germany) from Energizer Holdings, which was completed on 2 January 2020.[7][8]
