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THYSSENKRUPP REPLACING KERKHOFF AS CEO
thyssenkrupp AG has moved to replace CEO Guido Kerkhoff as the giant company looks to sell key units — including thyssenkrupp Elevators, its most-profitable — to end its downward spiral, Bloomberg reported on September 24. Kerkhoff, who replaced Heinrich Hiesinger in 2018, has been under pressure from the company's board, which felt he was moving too slowly in organizing the sale of the units. thyssenkrupp sent letters to potential buyers of the elevator unit earlier this year, including other OEMs and several private equity firms. KONE has expressed interest in a full merger, but Kerkhoff signaled that he preferred to sell a minority stake to a private equity firm and, thus, avoid the kind of competition regulations that killed an effort to create a joint venture between thyssenkrupp's steel business and India's Tata Steel Ltd. The source notes that several private equity firms had expressed interest in other thyssenkrupp units, including automobile parts, system engineering and heavy plate steel, but Kerkhoff was trying to get a deal done for the EUR15-billion (US$16.6-billion) elevator unit first. He will be replaced on an interim basis by board Chairwoman Martina Merz.
Image credit: courtesy of thyssenkrupp
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