Foundation

Until the end of 2005, the Helmig family was the majority owner of Helios Clinics. ATON GmbH was founded in 2001. After the sale of their stakes in Helios Clinics, ATON and its affiliates of the time remained in the possession of the family. The proceeds from the sale of the stakes in Helios meant an expansion in ATON’s range of interests. At the end of 2005, ATON GmbH and three affiliates had a total turnover of around €110m.

Independence

Today, ATON can be found in many other company names. This does not mean that the companies are related to the ATON Group.

In particular, the Group has neither legal nor any operational links with Aton Capital, a Russian brokerage that to our knowledge has been a part of the Austria Creditanstalt bank since 2006.

The meaning of the company name

In the 18th dynasty (New Kingdom) of Ancient Egypt, Pharoah Amenhotep IV, who later called himself Echnaton, made Aton, the visible sun and the body of the sun Re, a universal god with creative omnipotence. In the course of the changes to the Egyptian pantheon under Echnaton and his wife and co-regent Nefertiti, pictures and names of the old gods were destroyed, particularly in the city of Thebes. A new cult and a new capital city of Akhetaten were founded and old prayers replaced with new ones. When Echnaton died after a reign of 17 years, his son and heir Tutenkhamun returned to Egypt’s former pantheon.