Kepler Capital Markets - Advisory Board

German Advisory Board

Dr. Heinrich Binder

Dr. Heinrich Binder joined Kepler's Corporate Finance Advisory Board in August 2010.

Currently, Dr. Binder is also the CEO of Takata-Petri AG and European Head of Takata GmbH, a Japanese automotive supplier. From 1997 until 1999, he was CEO of Phillipp Holzmann, at the time the largest German construction company and member firm of the DAX 30 index, the index of the 30 largest firms listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.Prior to that, Dr. Binder was CEO of Kolbenschmidt AG. Following his law studies and until 1993, he held several positions in several countries (USA, Japan) at Metallgesellschaft AG, including the position of a Deputy Member of the Board of Directors (Vorstand).

Dr. Heinrich Binder is a fully qualified lawyer and holds a PhD in law from the University of Freiburg.

Frederik Bernhard

Baron van Dedem

Baron van Dedem joined Kepler's Corporate Finance Advisory Board in March 2010.

In addition to his role as Senior Industry Adviser to Kepler, Frits van Dedem is also a Managing Partner of Union Tank Eckstein GmbH & Co. KG (UTA), the leading non-cash service card systems provider for commercial and passenger transportation. UTA provides services permitting the convenient and cashless settlement of toll fees across Europe.

Prior to Union Tank Eckstein, he has worked in several positions at ABN Amro Bank, incl. in South America, the USA and the Netherlands for a period of 10 years.

Frits van Dedem holds a degree from H.E.A.O Utrecht (Netherlands). He also served as Officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy for 2 years.

Hubertus Krossa

Hubertus Krossa joined Kepler's Corporate Finance Advisory Board in September 2009.

Prior to joining Kepler as Senior Industry Adviser, Mr. Krossa was a Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG, a DAX 30 (index of the largest 30 German listed companies) member company, with responsibility for its material handling division Kion Group. As Kion's Chief Executive Officer, he led the company's MBO in 2006 which was backed by KKR and Goldman Sachs Private Equity. Hubertus Krossa has over 30 years’ experience as a senior manager in a variety of industries, including material handling, refrigeration engineering and consumer products (household appliances).

Hubertus Krossa is also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Balfour Beatty Plc and Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Bauknecht Hausgeräte GmbH and Enckelmann AG. Mr. Krossa holds a Master's degree (Dipl.-Kaufmann) from the University of Münster.

Rudolf Scharping

Rudolf Scharping joined Kepler's Corporate Finance Advisory Board in August 2010.

In addition to his role as Senior Industry Adviser to Kepler, Rudolf Scharping is a Managing Partner of RSBK, a strategic consultancy firm. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Scharping has been a senior politician in Germany and more recently an entrepreneur and advisor, allowing him to develop an excellent network throughout China and the Middle East.

Prior to becoming Managing Partner of RSBK, Rudolf Scharping was a leading German politician. From 1998 to 2002, he was the German Minister of Defence. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Scharping was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From 1991 to 1994, he was Prime Minister of the German state (Land) of Rhineland-Palatinate. In 1994, he was the SPD’s candidate for the Chancellor of Germany during the country’s general election. In addition, Mr. Scharping held the position of Chairman of the Party of European Socialists from 1995 to 2001.

Rudolf Scharping holds a Master’s degree in politics, law and sociology from the University of Bonn.

Dr. Martin Steinbach

Dr. Martin Steinbach joined Kepler's Corporate Finance Advisory Board in October 2010.

Martin Steinbach has spent more than 17 years in corporate finance and advisory. His area of expertise includes IPOs and SPOs, mid-cap M&A transactions and technology focused private equity deals. He served as Director and Head of Investment Banking of SGZ Bank AG (now DZ Bank AG), as Managing Director of SG Capital GmbH (now DZ Equity Partners) in the area of venture capital and as Director of Corporate Finance at entory AG. Furthermore, he was a member of supervisory and investment boards of several companies and private equity funds. Finally, Martin Steinbach was Head of Issuer & Investor Markets and Executive Director at Deutsche Boerse AG, where he was responsible for sales, marketing and product development. Through his efforts of internationalising the IPO platform of Deutsche Boerse, he also gained experience in emerging markets, having worked in China, Russia/CIS and India.

Following an apprenticeship at SGZ Bank AG, he graduated with a Master's degree in Business Administration (Dipl.-Kaufmann) from Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main, where he also received a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. pol.). He has published various articles and contributions to books about stock markets, IPOs, investor relations and REITs and is a frequent speaker on international seminars.

Tom Schwab

Tom Schwab joined Kepler's Corporate Finance Advisory Board in April 2010.

In addition to his position as Senior Industry Adviser at Kepler, he is a Managing Partner of Asset Vision Partners GmbH. Mr. Schwab commenced his career in 1996 at TishmanSpeyer Properties Deutschland GmbH with projects in Berlin and Kraków. From 1998 to 2004, he was Managing Director of property management company Polaris Immobilienmanagement GmbH in Hamburg and Berlin.

Later he became Head of Operations at GE Commercial Finance. In 2005, he was appointed a Director of the Global Special Situations Group of Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Banking Division in Frankfurt. From 2007, he was responsible for the Real Estate Financing Division of Citigroup in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2008, he joined FREO Group as Partner and Head of Asset Management.

Tom Schwab graduated with a Master's degree (Dipl.-Kaufmann) from EBS Oestrich-Winkel and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.