Partners Group hires ZF's Scheider as head of private equity

Ero Partsakoulaki
12 July 2022

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Partners Group has appointed Wolf-Henning Scheider, the departing CEO of auto supplier ZF, as partner and head of its private equity department.

Scheider will join the Swiss-based private equity firm in early 2023, at the conclusion of his current contract, after 35 years in the automotive industry. He will be based in the GP's global headquarters in Baar-Zug, Switzerland.

Scheider will succeed David Layton, who had retained leadership of the private equity department after being appointed Co-CEO in 2018 and sole CEO in 2021, according to a press release.

"Wolf will bring his vast experience to work on talent development for our internal teams and improve both portfolio as well as internal operations," a spokesperson from Partners Group told Unquote. "In addition, he brings a wealth of connections and networks from his decades in industry, which will facilitate access to an expanding set of operating directors, industry executives and other key decision makers, supporting our transformation investing credentials."

At Partners Group, Scheider will pay particular focus on the firm's control private equity portfolio, which is organized around goods and products, health and life, services and technology. Within this portfolio, the firm owned more than 100 companies in 23 countries and employed over 250,000 individuals as of 31 March 2022.

His appointment will deepen the transformational investing capabilities that underline the firm's private equity approach, according to the spokesperson. The firm expects to have circa 25% of investment exposure across each vertical, with its investment focus centred around "three main themes that are driving structural change and secular growth." Digitization and automation, new living, as well as decarbonisation and sustainability underscore Partners Group's thematic approach.

Scheider has been CEO and chairman of the board of management at ZF Group since 2018. He previously served as CEO and chairman of the management board at MAHLE Group after starting his career at Robert Bosch in 1987.

His appointment follows a series of senior hires from the industry, including the recent appointment of Ben Breier as head of Partners Group's US private equity health and life industry vertical. Prior to joining the firm, Breier operated in the healthcare sector, most recently as CEO of Kindred Healthcare, a healthcare services provider in the US.