VARTA

Infobox_Company
company_name = VARTA
company_
company_type = Public
foundation = 1904
location = Hanover, Germany
key_people =
num_employees =
industry = Industrial Electrical Equipment
products =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
slogan =
homepage = [http://www.varta-microbattery.com Varta Microbatteries]

VARTA AG (Vertrieb, Aufladung, Reparatur Transportabler Akkumulatoren; "Distribution, charging, repair of transportable accumulators") was a company based in Germany manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial and consumer markets. A sales slogan was "you're smarter to fit Varta!" in the mid 1990s. However the brand is now owned by other companies.

VARTA was created in 1904 as a subsidiary of Accumulatorenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft (AFA) and was based in Hagen in Westphalia. AFA was acquired by Günther Quandt after the First World War and the VARTA business was expanded greatly. The company was "the" manufacturer of batteries and accumulators for the Wehrmacht, submarines and the Luftwaffe during World War II. [cite web |url=http://www.historisches-centrum.de/index.php?id=290 |title=Batteries for submarines and V-weapons |accessdaymonth=12 January |accessyear=2008 |author=Ralf Blank |year=1995 |publisher=Historisches Centrum Hagen |language=German] During this period slave labourers worked in AFA's factories under appalling conditions.

After the war the most of the shares in Varta passed from Günther Quandt to Herbert Quandt. In 1977 VARTA AG's businesses were split up by the Herbert Quandt. Battery and plastics operations were retained in VARTA AG, but the pharmaceuticals and specialty chemical businesses was transferred to a new public company called Altana, and the electrical business was spun off into a company called CEAG. His shares in VARTA AG were left to his three children by his second marriage; while the two children of his third marriage received shares in Altana and CEAG (and a substantial stake in BMW).

However by 2006 Varta AG had sold all its operating divisions and the Quandts had sold their shares. VARTA AG is currently liquidating its remaining assets, contracts, liabilities and shareholdings (in particular the manufacture and sale of VARTA batteries). The VARTA businesses continues elsewhere in other hands.

* The consumer battery activities were sold to Rayovac (now called Spectrum Brands) in 2002
* The automotive battery unit was sold to Johnson Controls in 2002
* V.E. Beteiligungs GmbH and Buy-Out Beteiligungs-Invest AG of Austria bought the Micro Battery business in 2006

References

External links

* [http://www.varta-automotive.com/eng/ VARTA Automotive Batteries]
* [http://company.varta.com/eng/index.php?p=1&s=1&content=konzern/portrait.php Official company history of VARTA AG]
* [http://www.varta-microbattery.com Varta Microbatteries]
* [http://www.en.varta-consumer.com/content.php?path=/&&domain=www.en.varta-consumer.com Varta Consumer Batteries]