Case Study TONBELLER EN - Reppel & Partners Pte Ltd

Business Case

The Project

Exponential growth in Asia

TONBELLER AG, Bensheim, has operated a solid, profitable and growth-oriented business for many years. When a critical turnover figure of over EUR 30 million was exceeded, the management decided to actively tackle the Asian market. Until now, this market had only been served indirectly and opportunistically.

Date :

2015

Category :

Advisory, StartUp, Business Case, Leadership

Tags :

Business Case, Asia, Intercultural success, Leading a company

Client :

TONBELLER AG

The Challenge

For more than 35 years, TONBELLER was one of the leading providers in the field of business intelligence. Innovative technologies as well as many years of experience in risk management stood for the high reliability of TONBELLER products.

While the business was mainly driven in Europe, the management around CEO Torsten Mayer decided to actively approach the promising Asia-Pacific region as a market. In the past, the APAC markets were visited regularly and served through associated partners, but without a local presence, market penetration was not possible. A branch office was needed.

The Solution

TONBELLER contacted Reppel to exchange ideas and gain experience. In the course of the talks, it turned out that Frank’s expertise in the field of services and products in Asia, as well as in business start-up and management, was an ideal fit for TONBELLER’s plans.

A joint business plan was developed, setting ambitious but realistic targets for the next 3 years and a regulated funding requirement with the aim of achieving break-even on all investments at the end of the third year.

Within 6 months, the Asian parent company was established in Singapore. The city-state was chosen because of its prominent position in Asia in terms of anti-corruption, stability and accessibility, as well as the talent available. Immediate target markets were Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, in addition to Singapore, a city state that is emerging in the banking sector. Already in the first three months, the company succeeded in recruiting excellent employees for critical functions and, in addition to marketing activities with a rapidly growing pipeline, was already able to deliver (Delivery) without having to directly resort to German resources.

In the middle of the successful expansion phase came the news of the sale of TONBELLER AG to a leading provider in the American financial services sector. The team, which had grown together quickly, was transferred to the target organisation within a few weeks and the almost smooth integration enabled the team to stay together and to consistently continue the successful course they had taken in the new organisation.

Customer Success

The joint business plan laid the foundation for success, which could not be disturbed even by the sudden sale to the American investor. The month-by-month planning enabled a very efficient control of the fundamentally risky approach. The plan contrasted the monthly expenses with a weighted pipeline and concrete deals. The local leadership of Mr. Reppel as Managing Director ensured the necessary market proximity, understanding and participation in the hyper-fast business environment in Asia as well as empathic competence in dealing with both cultures. In the first 6 months, numerous new staff members were hired and quickly became productive through rapid onboarding. They developed an excellent reputation with clients, which could be sold as a hard deposit after integration into the acquiring organisation of the investor and contributed to the success also in the new organisation.

The managing director of the acquiring organisation congratulated Mr Reppel on conclusion of the project and thanked him for the extremely efficient integration.