VARTA AG (; german: link=no, Vertrieb, Aufladung, Reparatur transportabler Akkumulatoren – ) is a German company manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.

History

VARTA was founded by Adolf Müller in 1887, and established in 1904 as a subsidiary of Accumulatoren-Fabrik AFA. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, VARTA together with AFA was acquired by German industrialist

Günther Quandt Günther Quandt (28 July 1881 – 30 December 1954) was a German industrialist who founded an industrial empire that today includes BMW and Altana, a car and chemical company, respectively. Between, 1921 and 1929 he was married to Magda Ritsche ...

and Industrialist and VARTA CEO Dr. Carl Hermann Roderbourg. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, most of the VARTA shares passed from Günther Quandt to his son,

Herbert Quandt Herbert Werner Quandt (22 June 1910 – 2 June 1982) was a German industrialist credited with having saved BMW when it was at the point of bankruptcy and made a huge profit in doing so. Quandt also oversaw the use at his family's factories ...

. The subsidiary in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

was later occupied by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and was named BAE Batterien. In 1977, VARTA AG's businesses were split up by Herbert Quandt; battery and plastics operations were retained in VARTA AG, but the pharmaceuticals and specialty chemical businesses were transferred to a new company called

Altana Altana AG (styled as ALTANA) is a German chemical company headquartered in Wesel. It was created in 1977 through the spin-off of divisions of the Varta Group. The first CEO was Herbert Quandt. The group comprises the divisions BYK (coating ad ...

, and the electrical business was spun off into a company called CEAG. Herbert Quandt left the company's shares to his children. In 2002, the consumer battery activities (excluding

button cell A button cell, watch battery, or coin battery is a small single-cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder typically in diameter and high — resembling a button. Stainless steel usually forms the bottom body and positive terminal of the cell; insu ...

s) were sold to Rayovac. The automotive battery business was acquired by

Johnson Controls Johnson Controls International is an American Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,0 ...

. The

and

home energy storage Home energy storage devices store electricity locally, for later consumption. Electrochemical energy storage products, also known as "Battery Energy Storage System" (or "BESS" for short), at their heart are rechargeable batteries, typically based on ...

businesses were acquired by Montana Tech Components. By 2006, VARTA AG had sold all its operating divisions, and the Quandts had sold their shares. VARTA AG then liquidated its remaining assets, contracts, liabilities and shareholdings, in particular the manufacture and sale of VARTA batteries, while continuing its company businesses. On 19 October 2017 shares of the VARTA AG started flotation on the stock market (

Prime Standard The Prime Standard is a market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange that includes companies which comply with transparency standards higher than those of the General Standard, which is regulated by law. The Prime Standard includes quarterly repor ...

). With an emission price of 17,50 Euro the company had a value of 668,5 Mio. Euro On 2 January 2019, American company Energizer Holdings, Inc. took control over VARTA's consumer battery segment. On 29 May 2019, VARTA AG signed an agreement to acquire the VARTA Consumer Batteries business for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions (including the manufacturing and distribution facilities in Germany) from Energizer Holdings, which was completed on 2 January 2020.

Products

VARTA-PoliFlex.jpg, Poliflex-Accumulator from Varta Microbattery VARTA Akkumulatoren.jpg, Rechargeable batteries from Varta Lithium-Ionen-Accumulator.jpg, Lithium-Ion-Accumulator Battery D-Cell Varta Pertrix 1970s detail.jpg,

zinc–carbon battery A zinc–carbon battery (or carbon zinc battery in U.S. English) is a dry cell primary battery that provides direct electric current from the electrochemical reaction between zinc and manganese dioxide (MnO2) in the presence of an electrolyte. It ...

: monocel with the design of the 1970s Fotothek df roe-neg 0006335 017 Batterie von Pertrix detail.jpg, battery from Pertrix 121020-Varta-Pertrix-15V.jpg, Varta Pertrix 74, 15-Volt-Battery Li-coincells.jpg, Different types of

coin cell A button cell, watch battery, or coin battery is a small single-cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder typically in diameter and high — resembling a button. Stainless steel usually forms the bottom body and positive terminal of the cell; insu ...

s from Varta Varta Akku-Kombi-Lader.jpg, Varta combi charger with 2 Varta NiCd accumulators (2100mAh, AA) VARTA LED Taschenlampe.jpg, LED-

torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. In ...

light produced by VARTA Solar-Charger Varta.jpg, Varta Solar Charger Model 57082 with two 2100mAh Ni–MH rechargeable batteries

References

External links

*
Official website for VARTA Automotive Batteries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varta Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Electric power companies of Germany Manufacturing companies established in 1887 German brands Consumer battery manufacturers Motor vehicle battery manufacturers 1887 establishments in Germany Companies in the TecDAX Companies in the MDAX Quandt family