Thyssenkrupp is known for steel. The group currently earns money almost exclusively in the elevator business. Because the financial situation of the Essenes has become increasingly acute, the earnings pearl must be sold - and as quickly as possible.
Essen (AP) - At the steel and industrial group Thyssenkrupp, which is in financial need, the decision to sell the multi-billion dollar elevator division is approaching.
This Thursday (February 27), the Supervisory Board will meet for its probably decisive meeting on the subject.
In the meantime, the management board wants to clarify with the new head of the group, Martina Merz, whether one of the two applicants remaining in the bidding race should be awarded the contract for profitable business. It remains to be seen whether Thyssenkrupp wants to sell the elevator and escalator business entirely or keep part of it. Almost one in three of Thyssenkrupp's 160,000 employees worldwide would be affected by the sale of the elevator division.
After the Finnish elevator manufacturer Kone got out of the bidding race, the ThyssenKrupp management is concentrating on negotiations with two groups of international financial investors. On the one hand, this is a consortium of Blackstone, Carlyle and Canadian Pension Plan. The RAG Foundation from Essen also belongs to the second group of applicants for the financial investors Advent and Cinven.
The foundation has to pay for the follow-up costs of the mining in the Ruhr and Saar and invests billions. Its chairman Bernd Tönjes promoted the Advent / Civent consortium's offer to the employee representatives. As a co-owner, the foundation would vouch for "that possible optimizations take place with social responsibility", he told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". IG Metall should also like to hear that, in his view, Thyssenkrupp should stay on board the elevators.
The union has now signed agreements with both consortia in the event of a sale. Among other things, the preservation of collective bargaining and the securing of pensions were laid down, said IG Metall.
The elevator division is currently the only noteworthy profit maker for the heavily indebted Thyssenkrupp Group. While the steel business is deep in the red, the elevator division achieved an operating profit of 228 million euros in the first quarter of the fiscal year that started on October 1. A total sale is expected to generate revenues of around 16 billion euros.
Thyssenkrupp posted a minus of EUR 260 million in the past financial year. According to management, it will be significantly higher this year. Financial debt has risen to more than 7 billion euros.
Announcement Thyssenkrupp from 17.2.