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Kone Offers $19B For Thyssenkrupp’s Elevator Business

By  |  January 28, 2020

Finland’s Kone has offered about 17 billion euros ($18.9 billion) for Thyssenkrupp’s elevator unit, the highest bid so far, drawing skepticism from one of the German group’s labor bosses who said price alone would not cut it.

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    Kone, which has long championed the advantages of a tie-up between the world’s third- and fourth-largest elevator groups, on Tuesday said it had made a non-binding bid, a day after a deadline expired.

    The group said it saw a “highly complementary geographical footprint of the businesses, substantial value creation on offer from synergies, and joint innovation potential in an operating environment increasingly shaped by digitalization.”

    Kone’s offer represented a premium of about 1 billion euros over the best offer from leading competitors from the private equity world, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    “Offer size alone is not enough,” said labor leader Knut Giesler, deputy supervisory board chairman of Thyssenkrupp’s elevator unit and a member of the powerful IG Metall union. Workers fear that a sale to Kone could result in substantial job cuts.

    Full Content: Financial Post

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