{"id":123311,"date":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gs:8890\/academy\/lpkf-case-study\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:31:13","slug":"lpkf-case-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/insights\/lpkf-case-study\/","title":{"rendered":"LPKF Case Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name: <\/strong>LPKF Laser & Electronics AG
\nHeadquarters: <\/strong>Garbsen, Germany
\nIndustry: <\/strong>Laser & Electronics<\/p>\n

How LPKF successfully introduced their first employee share plan<\/h2>\n

LPKF in Numbers:\u00a0 <\/h2>\n

\"no\"<\/p>\n

LPKF Laser and Electronics is a German-based leading provider of laser manufacturing solutions, with 40 years of experience. Their employees are laser technology experts, who \u2018know how to integrate lasers as a tool into powerful machines.\u2019 Their employees have always been a driving force behind the company and LPKF decided they wanted to make some changes to reflect that.<\/p>\n

In 2019, LPKF started thinking about how to make that change. They wanted to give their employees the opportunity to own part of the company. And with a shortage in the German labour market, they were always fighting to get the best employees. We spoke to Annica Lau, from LPKF HR, and the eventual Project Manager of the employee share plan. The goal, as Annica put it, was: \u2018Employees don\u2019t only sign a contract \u2013 the company\u2019s success is their success.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Challenges<\/h2>\n

\"GoetzGoetz M. Bendele, CEO, and Christian Witt, CFO of LPKF Laser & Electronics<\/p>\n

Eventually, LPKF decided to launch an employee share plan. Most companies would have started with this, but there was a very good reason that LPKF didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Annica told us that employee share plans are \u2018not common or popular in Germany, as they always have high administration costs.\u2019<\/p>\n

LPKF was having a hard time finding a provider, as the local banks told them they could only set one up in Germany, not worldwide. And other companies told them they were too small, even for a German-participant-only plan \u2013 \u2018knock on our door when you have a thousand eligible employees.\u2019<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll let Annica explain what happened next: \u2018Then we met J\u00f6rg Ziegler from Global Shares. From the beginning, he was very supportive \u2013 he always knew what was going on, what we could do and could not do. He didn\u2019t just give guidance, he gave business-proof guidance, the whole package.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was closing their doors, and Global Shares opened the door. They made it possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

What was needed? \u00a0<\/h2>\n

\"CientistLPKF, founded in 1976, is a leading provider of laser manufacturing solutions<\/p>\n

LPKF is a small to medium-sized company. As Annica said, their share plan needs to reflect that: \u2018We needed a simple solution, an affordable and straightforward ESPP. We didn\u2019t need fancy \u2013 just one thing that works and is easily accessible.\u2019<\/p>\n

LPKF believed in the power of employee ownership, even in a simple plan: \u2018We\u2019re a very innovative, growing company. That\u2019s something we build on. With an employee share plan, you reward your employees for motivation, innovation and productivity \u2013 they see that if you work hard, it will come back to you.\u2019<\/p>\n

Early on in the process, the Global Shares Global Compliance team, led by Steve Kavanagh, was brought in to bring further knowledge and expertise in rolling out the plan across jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

This allowed Annica, and the LPKF team, a depth of experience and understanding of operating share plans across different jurisdictions, and helped ensure many common pitfalls and delays in rolling out the plan were avoided.<\/p>\n

Five weeks later, the share plan was launched to the entire company, with a 47.7% enrolment rate.<\/p>\n

\n

What did success look like?<\/h2>\n

Annica was quite clear: this happened because of J\u00f6rg, Steve and the rest of the Global Shares team. \u2018If there were any questions, Global Shares had a proper project plan \u2013 they tell you exactly what to do. You can\u2019t miss anything because they are there to help you and guide you.\u2019<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s dedication and hustle were especially crucial against such a short deadline. \u2018If we asked a question, I would have expected a response in two days. Instead, we would get a response an hour later, with all the changes made. I was on my own, and I even went on holiday \u2013 but we were in safe hands.\u2019<\/p>\n

Global Shares was a natural fit. Our easy-to-use platform, and the oversight of industry experts like J\u00f6rg and Steve, ensured the share plan was simple for participants.<\/p>\n

\u2018Global Shares adjusts their system to what the customer needs.\u2019<\/p>\n

And with our support team, the share plan was simple for Annica too.<\/p>\n

\n

What We Learned<\/h2>\n

\"downloadGlobal Shares worked in partnership with LPKF to design the ideal employee share plan for their in-house talent<\/em><\/p>\n

Equity compensation was not Annica\u2019s daily business; she wasn\u2019t fluent in any of it, but was the only person in charge of launching the share plan. That\u2019s where Global Shares stepped in.<\/p>\n

\u2018Global Shares is growing a lot, but I still got the feeling that everything was going smoothly \u2013 everyone was on the same page, everyone that I talked to was very knowledgeable in their branch.\u2019<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a German saying \u2013 everything out of one hand. That\u2019s what Global Shares brought to LPKF, the one-stop-shop approach. \u2018Advice on Global Compliance, legal, marketing\u2026 everything you need for the project, including the day-to-day administration of the plan and the initial implementation was provided.\u2019<\/p>\n

Not to mention, Global Shares took charge of problems. If there were ever any questions, \u2018the service team talked to the Global Compliance team of Steve Kavanagh, all within Global Shares \u2013 I\u2019m not a part of that. They just come to me with a solution and tell me what to do.\u2019<\/p>\n

It was part of the overall \u2018team spirit\u2019 \u2013 Global Shares worked together, and LPKF reaped the benefits: \u2018They are your team for that time, they\u2019re rooting for you. They really want your project to be successful, and it\u2019s a really personal service.\u2019 Most importantly, as a Project Manager on her own: \u2018I was never alone.\u2019<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what Global Shares is all about. Our equity experts, by your side and on your team \u2013 making employee ownership simple.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

LPKF Story | By the Numbers<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Plan Details<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Programme type:<\/td>\nDiscounted Share Purchase Plan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Discount:<\/td>\n50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Programme Details:<\/td>\nOne-off offering per Year. Employees can invest from their net salary up to a maximum of \u20ac360.00 in tranches of \u20ac60.00 per year (personal investment) and offer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Use of tax exemptions:<\/td>\nYes \/ \u20ac360.00 in Germany<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Blocking Period:<\/td>\n2 Years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Origin of Shares:<\/td>\nShare buyback via Stock Exchange<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Offering:<\/td>\nRevolving once a year *<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Number of eligible employees:<\/td>\n850<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Implementation period until go-live:<\/td>\n5 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Participation Rate:<\/td>\n48.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Type of Custody:<\/td>\nCollective or omnibus deposit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Country Coverage:<\/td>\nGermany, Slovenia, UK, USA, Korea, Japan and China<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Particularities:<\/td>\nDividend payments from participants are automatically reinvested in shares of the company for the participants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Service Providers<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Programme design:<\/td>\nIn-house<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Administration:<\/td>\nGlobal Shares<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tax, Legal & Regulatory:<\/td>\nGlobal Shares<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Communication:<\/td>\nIn-house<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


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Name: LPKF Laser & Electronics AG Headquarters: Garbsen, Germany Industry: Laser & Electronics How LPKF successfully introduced their first employee share plan LPKF in Numbers:\u00a0 LPKF Laser and Electronics is a German-based leading provider of laser manufacturing solutions, with 40 years of experience. Their employees are laser technology experts, who \u2018know how to integrate lasers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":123312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[654,656,872],"class_list":["post-123311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies-hk","tag-see-all-hk","tag-case-studies-hk","tag-featured-case-study"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpmorganworkplacesolutions.com\/hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}