Photo by Romulic & Stojcic
June the 8th, 2023 – The Osijek company Mono not only celebrated twenty years of doing successful business, but also its new strategic partner from Germany – Possehl.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Osijek company Mono recently celebrated two decades of doing business, and they crowned this great anniversary with even more excellent news. Starting this month, the German industrial and technological giant, the Possehl Group, will become a strategic partner of Mono through the investment of their digital unit, Possehl Digital, in a minority co-ownership share.
For twenty years, the Osijek company Mono has been one of the most successful regional and national companies that primarily focuses on the development of customised software solutions. In addition to the development of various client products, Mono successfully develops several of its own products, which are exported to more than ninety countries in the world.
Crisis resilience
At a time when we’re hearing more and more about upcoming crises, Mono is taking a big step forward in order to further secure its position on the market and realise its long-term plans. This new partnership with Possehl will enable them to operate even more securely, opening up to new markets and new projects, and therefore new workplaces. It will also help them in improving the conditions of their current employees.
Who is Possehl?
The German Possehl group is a globally active technology group that currently has more than 13,200 employees in over 200 companies from 30 countries around the world. Last year, they achieved a joint profit of 5.5 billion euros. It is present here in the Republic of Croatia through several companies, the most famous of which is Harburg-Freudenberger Belisce d.o.o., a global leader in the production of machines for plastics and rubber.
With a tradition spanning 175 long years, the Possehl group has an impressive history, and what sets them apart is the fact that the sole shareholder of the group is the Possehl Foundation, which is focused on charitable work and investments in the community and the city of Lubeck, which is their centre.
The group is divided into ten administrative units, each of which operates independently and independently of each other. The Osijek company Mono will cooperate with the digital unit, Possehl Digital, which was founded in 2021. Possehl Digital is otherwise an economically independent unit whose goal is to improve the digital transformation of small and medium-sized companies through their mutual cooperation. Possehl is also characterised by their decentralised way of operating, which means that each member company of the group makes its own decisions in accordance with its previous work, goals and market.
By establishing this partnership, Mono will continue to retain its autonomy in making decisions, which they consider extremely important for their long-term plans and business.
Strategic partnership
What Mono emphasises as a key element for the realisation of this cooperation is precisely the level of independence that Possehl supports and the complete freedom they provide when creating and implementing the company’s strategy. With this strategic partnership, Mono will get a few springs in its step in the form of financial support and long-term investment in growth, as well as the opening up of new opportunities and possibilities by entering new markets.
As stated by Mono’s CEO, Denis Susac: “The way Possehl works, in terms of complete freedom of decision-making, the retention of existing employees, the culture and identity of the companies they invest in, and their general orientation towards long-term investment and stable growth, was actually a key factor for us in choosing a strategic partner. Although, based on excellent results, we had a handful of offers for a complete takeover, where Mono would lose its identity and become an unrecognisable part of a larger system, this simply didn’t fit into our vision of further development.”
Awards and recognition
The Osijek company Mono’s work has otherwise been recognised and given numerous awards and accolades, both domestically and internationally.
A benefit for both Mono and Possehl
In their new building in the centre of the newly established Osijek IT Park, they currently employ more than 160 employees, and they aren’t planning to stop there. That’s exactly why the management of Mono was looking for a partner in the realisation of its long-term plans.
“In addition to the above, the main reason for choosing Possehl is the opening of new markets and projects within their group (and also more broadly on different EU markets), which for Mono as it is now – a small company (by global standards) from Osijek – would simply not be possible . Both parties think that there is a complete synergy between the knowledge and experience in the field of IT that Mono has, and the strength, capacity and needs of the members of the Possehl group,” explained Susac.
Hermann Schäfer, CEO at Possehl Digital, confirmed this statement with great enthusiasm about the new partnership with Mono: “Together with Mono, we want to take digital transformation in the area of medium-sized companies in Germany to a higher level. We really see a significant level of synergy between our companies and have already started cooperation. For us, Mono is one of the most exciting software development companies on the market, with great prospects for success and excellent opportunities. We’re sure that this collaboration will lead to even greater success – both for Mono and for Possehl Digital.”
