VEB Kombinat Robotron, the Dresden-based firm that by itself practically makes up East Germany’s contribution to information technology, is to enter into a joint venture with Gummersbach, West Germany-based consultancy Kienbaum und Partner GmbH to provide a consultancy service to medium-size business enterprises, according to Computerwoche. The new company, initially capitalised at $125,000, will go under the name of Unternehmungsberatung Kienbaum and will operate out of East Berlin. The joint venture starts life with five employees, headed by Joachim Abicht, Robotron’s General Director for Import and Export, who together are to target their efforts at the requirements of firms with more than 100 employees – according to Jochen Kienbaum, head of Kienbaum und Partner, the company has already had 30 enquiries from various industry sectors. The venture marks the continued westernisation of Robotron, which has long had a UK division marketing electronic typewriters and other office equipment; closer to home, Robotron, with its main offices in Leipzig, East Berlin and Dresden, is known to have taken the fancy of the ever-hungry Siemens AG, which would very much like a controlling stake in the 70,000 employee firm.
