Thyssenkrupp has received at least three separate bids from groups hoping to purchase a majority stake in the company’s elevator business, Reuters reports. thyssenkrupp AG, a Germany-based conglomerate with steelmaking and automotive divisions, asked for bids for thyssenkrupp Elevator earlier this year as part of a massive overhaul of its operations. The elevator division is the company’s most profitable segment. KONE — which has been a suitor for some time — teamed up with private equity firm CVC to move beyond potential antitrust concerns. Another bid was jointly entered by private equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board; the third bid was a joint offer by Advent, Cinvin and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. A major shareholder is pushing an outright sale of the elevator division, but others, including labor representatives, want thyssenkrupp to retain a stake. The source said the bidders are prepared to take a minority stake, if necessary. thyssenkrupp also recently announced it was eliminating 640 jobs from its System Engineering division, which builds assembly lines for the automotive, aerospace and battery industries, as part of “major restructuring” of its three underperforming divisions.
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