In 2015, six international blue chips founded a joint venture for the development and operation of hydrogen infrastructure (filling station construction) in Germany. The interim manager was commissioned to help shape the development of the company and establish the commercial processes.
As a member of the management board and interim CFO, he initially took over the management of planning, management and control of all commercial areas. His tasks included designing accounting and controlling processes and updating management tools. He was subsequently put in charge of the HR, IT including data protection, legal and organization departments.
Building up accounting and introducing a management information system
After it was founded, the joint venture quickly had to manage a large number of business processes in order to meet the requirements of a modern plant engineering company. A large number of credit-side business transactions had to be organized.
In the first step, the interim manager transferred the accounting from the external tax consultant to the company, also in order to build up the corresponding expertise internally. He introduced account assignment and posting guidelines with which he established standardized accounting processes. By implementing a modern management information system (MIS), he ensured timely and reliable reporting to the management and shareholders.
In the course of the mandate, he was responsible for further process optimizations. This included, for example, the introduction of a document management system, which greatly minimized the effort required for administrative activities in connection with accounting, thereby saving time and costs.
Developing revolving corporate planning to secure liquidity
At the same time, the interim manager updated the initial corporate planning to determine the annual liquidity requirements on the basis of short and medium-term investment planning and the company's growth strategy. This process created a sound basis for the annual cash call to the shareholders.
Establishing the necessary processes in connection with the GDPR
In another sub-project, the interim manager made a significant contribution to meeting the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In collaboration with the external data protection officer, he identified risks. He consistently and continuously worked through deficiencies that were subject to penalties. The main challenge was to enforce the measures agreed with the data protection officer internally - in particular with the respective process owners.
Client extends mandate to acquire new shareholders
In order to accelerate the development of the hydrogen infrastructure and due to updated market requirements, the joint venture was to acquire new shareholders and thus fresh capital. As part of this process, the interim manager's mandate was extended to include setting up and filling the data room and the subsequent due diligence process. Thanks to the extensive information and results, negotiations on a Purchase & Sales Agreement (PSA) were able to commence promptly.
Shareholder agreement adapted and successfully represented to the existing shareholders
The interim manager's tasks also included adapting the shareholder agreement to the addition of new shareholders. Initial and now outdated conditions had to be eliminated and replaced with forward-looking wording. The interim manager was able to represent the necessary changes even against the differing interests of the existing shareholders. Finally, the modified shareholder agreement was ratified by the existing shareholders: The basis for concluding contract negotiations had been laid.
