EQS-News: 20 years of KION – connecting the heritage with the future at the Annual General Meeting 2026

20 years of KION – connecting the heritage with the future at the Annual General Meeting 2026

• Three new members of KION GROUP AG’s Supervisory Board elected
• Supervisory Board and Executive Board proposals approved with majority vote
• Dividend of € 0.62 per share to be paid out
• Contract of Michael Larsson, President KION IAS and ITS Americas, extended until December 2029

Frankfurt am Main, May 28, 2026 – World trade is more interconnected than ever, and supply chains and trade routes around the globe are extremely complex, with countless of items moving per day. A sophisticated, and also vulnerable orchestra that needs a conductor. At the 2026 Annual General Meeting of KION GROUP AG, shareholders were shown that KION is present at every point in the world’s supply chains: in factories, warehouses, ports, and logistics centers, as a driving force in its industry. 

KION combines all elements of modern supply chains

In his speech, KION’s CEO Rob Smith looked back to the business performance of financial year 2025 and referred to the company’s and its brands’ strong heritage: “KION’s roots stretch back more than 200 years. That’s 200 years of excellence, innovation, and the trust of our customers. And for the past 20 years, we have been shaping the future of supply chains under the name KION”. In the third decade of its journey, the company is now on its way to becoming “The Supply Chain Solutions Company”, with its business combining all elements of modern supply chains: industrial trucks, automation, robotics, software, and physical AI. ”Our people, our technology, and our ecosystem partnerships give us the strength to drive innovation and seize new opportunities — in a market that is evolving at incredible speed,” Smith added.

Three new members of the Supervisory Board elected

Another important item on the day’s agenda was the election of new members to KION GROUP AG’s Supervisory Board. The members of the Board Dr. Alexander Dibelius, Kui Jiang and Dr. Shaojun Sun resigned from their positions with effect from the end of the Annual General Meeting. “On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Alexander Dibelius, Kui Jiang and Dr. Shaojun Sun for their valuable contributions to KION’s journey during their respective tenures,” says Mohsen Sohi, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of KION GROUP AG.

“Alexander Dibelius is our longest-serving board member and spent 19 years with the company and its predecessor. As one of KION’s ‘founding fathers’ he played a key role in laying the groundwork for the group that is becoming the Supply Chain Solutions Company now. Kui Jiang’s and Shaojun Sun’s years of service are closely linked to our trusting partnership with our anchor shareholder Weichai Power – a best practice example for a longstanding German-Chinese cooperation benefitting both parties mutually.”

Based on a corresponding proposal by the Nomination Committee, three internationally experienced senior executives were elected with majority vote to the Supervisory Board: Dr. Ralf Krieger (Independent Management Consultant), Decheng Wang (Deputy Chairman of Weichai Holding Group), and Zhao Jin (Vice General Manager of Weichai Holding Group). “I am very pleased that we have succeeded in attracting these three highly qualified individuals for the Supervisory Board who will effectively strengthen the body in the performance of its duties,” says Mohsen Sohi.

Supervisory Board and Executive Board proposals approved with majority vote

More than 79 percent of the share capital was present at the Annual General Meeting. During the Annual General Meeting, the majority of shareholders approved all of the proposals put forward by the Supervisory Board and Executive Board, including the dividend distribution of € 0.62 per share, which corresponds to a payout ratio of around 35 percent.

Contract of Board Member Michael Larsson extended

KION’s Supervisory Board has extended the contract of Michael Larsson, President KION IAS and ITS Americas until December 2029. “Michael Larsson has successfully driven forward Dematic’s development during recent years”, says Mohsen Sohi. “The Supervisory Board is convinced that with his leadership and deep industry knowledge, Dematic will be positioned to an even larger extent in the supply chain orchestration space, and together with the brands Linde Material Handling and STILL jointly serve the fast-growing start-up automation market.”

Further information on the Annual General Meeting and all voting results can be found here:  

https://www.kiongroup.com/en/Investor-Relations/Shareholders-Meeting/

https://www.kiongroup.com/en/Investor-Relations/Financial-News/

The Company

KION is shaping world trade – globally, regionally, locally – empowering its customers to unlock the full potential of their supply chains: efficient, smart, sustainable, and reliable with real-time traceability and high delivery speed. The company’s full spectrum of services includes industrial trucks, integrated automation technologies, AI-based solutions, and software as well as all related services. KION’s supply chain solutions enable the smooth flow of materials and information in our customers’ warehouses, production plants, and distribution centers in over 100 countries worldwide.

The MDAX listed group is the largest manufacturer of industrial trucks in the EMEA region based on the number of units sold in 2024. Based on revenue for the year 2024, KION is the leading overseas manufacturer in China, and including domestic manufacturers, the third-largest supplier there. In the warehouse automation market, KION is the world’s leading provider based on 2024 revenue. At the end of 2025, more than 2.0 million industrial trucks of KION were in use by customers from all manner of sectors and of varying sizes on six continents. The group currently has more than 42,000 employees and generated revenue of approx. € 11.3 billion in the 2025 financial year.

You can access up-to-date image material for the KION Group via our image database https://kionmediacenter.canto.global/v/MediaCenter/ as well as on our respective brands’ websites.

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Disclaimer

This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ significantly from the results that are currently expected due to various risk factors and uncertainties such as changes in economic or industry-specific conditions, changes in the market environment or political situation, changes in domestic or international legislation, interest rate or exchange rate fluctuations, legal disputes and investigations, and the availability of financial resources. We do not assume any responsibility for updating the forward-looking statements in this release.