Kone Offers $19B For Thyssenkrupp’s Elevator Business

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.

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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