In December 2008, following 25 years of involvement in the company, majority shareholder Rainer Bartram handed over his shares in WINTERSTEIGER to our current owners, the Lange family from Hamburg. True to his motto "Only success counts, good intentions alone are worthless", Bartram resolutely pursued his strategy of making WINTERSTEIGER a global player and market leader in each of its three business segments:

• Sales subsidiaries were founded around the world
• Strategically important companies were acquired
• The Ried site was built up and massively expanded to become the company's headquarters

Starting off in turbulent times.

When Rainer Bertram acquired a stake in WINTERSTEIGER in 1982, the company was in a difficult situation that nearly threatened its very existence. Turnover was only slightly over 6 million euros, the company was operating at a loss, and its equity capital had nearly been depleted. A further factor was its ownership structure consisting of 12 shareholders who weren't in agreement on the future of the company.

In terms of its assets, WINTERSTEIGER had excellent, technically advanced products and highly motivated employees. Bartram acquired an initial stake of 20 percent of the company's share capital before subsequently taking over the remaining shares. By 1983, turnover had already increased to 7.4 million euros, and WINTERSTEIGER was back in the black. Under Bartram's careful management, the small Innviertel-based company consistently grew to become a profitable global company.