Thyssenkrupp has reduced the field of applicants for its profitable elevator division. Now only two groups of financial investors are to be negotiated.
Essen (AP) - At the steel and industrial group Thyssenkrupp, which is in financial need, the sale of the multi-billion dollar elevator division is getting closer.
The Esseners primarily want to negotiate with two groups of financial investors about a majority or complete sale. Spoken with a consortium of Blackstone, Carlyle and Canadian Pension Plan as well as another from Advent and Cinven, said Thyssenkrupp on Monday. The aim is to reach a short-term agreement. CEO Martina Merz recently said that a decision should be made by the end of February.
Competitor Kone is out of the race. The Finns announced on Monday that they would withdraw from the bidding race. They had offered almost 17 billion euros. Thyssenkrupp obviously feared cartel problems. CFO Johannes Dietsch had only admitted last week when the figures for the first quarter were published that it would take a strategic investor a longer time to receive the purchase price for Thyssenkrupp.
Thyssenkrupp did not cancel the initial public offering. If no agreement can be reached with a bidder, going public is still an option. This would then be possible from early summer, the Esseners said. Almost one in three of Thyssenkrupp's approximately 160,000 employees worldwide would be affected by the sale of the elevator division.
IG Metall wants to quickly talk to prospective customers about security for employees. The employee representatives had negotiated a very good agreement with Thyssenkrupp AG and Elevator Management, said IG Metall's NRW district manager Knut Giesler, the "Rheinsichen Post" (Tuesday). These regulations should now be quickly established in a collective agreement with the buyer. In particular, this involves commitments in terms of locations, employees, investments, research and development and training. "We want an agreement before the crucial supervisory board meeting in late February."
The stricken Ruhr region group urgently needs money to reduce debt and to finance the planned restructuring of the group. In the negotiations with the investors, the aim is to "maximize value", according to the Thyssenkrupp statement. The offers were "at a high valuation level".
The elevator division is currently the only profitable company at Thyssenkrupp. On the other hand, things are going badly for steel, which should play a more important role in the group in future. In the first three months of the fiscal year that started on October 1, Thyssenkrupp posted a net loss of EUR 372 million. The minus was higher than in the entire previous year. As a result, the Group's debt has risen sharply.
