Thyssenkrupp receives elevator unit bids from two consortia

Harriet Matthews
27 February 2020

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Germany-based steel and industrial engineering company Thyssenkrupp has received bids from two consortia with leverage of approximately 7x EBITDA for its elevator unit, according to a Reuters report.

The deal could be valued at up to €16bn, as reported by Reuters.

One consortium consists of Blackstone, Carlyle and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which submitted a €16bn offer earlier in February, Reuters reported. The other consortium is made up of Advent, Cinven, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and RAG Stiftung.

The proposed leverage on both offers amounts to approximately €7bn, Reuters said.

Thyssenkrupp began the structured process to sell its elevator business in August 2019. The company had previously planned to list its elevator business, following the abandonment of Thyssenkrupp's joint venture with Tata, as reported by Mergermarket.

Finland-based engineering company Kone expressed interest in acquiring the business early on, but left the process in February. Hillhouse and 3G Capital left the process in January 2020. The asset also drew interest from PE bidders including KKR and EQT.

Should a PE consortium come on top, the deal would be the largest in Germany's buyout history, surpassing the previous record held by the CHF 10.2bn (approximately €8.9bn) buyout of Nestlé Skin Health by a consortium led by EQT, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board by more than €7bn.

The deal would also mark the third-largest buyout ever recorded in Europe and the second-largest buyout in the past decade, according to Unquote Data.

In January 2018, Blackstone, CPPIB and GIC acquired a 55% stake in Refinitiv, the financial and risk business of Thomson Reuters, in a deal that valued the business at approximately $20bn.

The next two largest buyouts were recorded pre-financial crisis. KKR and the CEO of Boots, Stefano Pessina, de-listed the company from the London Stock Exchange in a £11.1bn deal in June 2007. And in June 2007, BC Partners, Isinvest, ICG, Pi Capital and Silver Lake invested in the $16.6bn buyout of satellite operator Intelsat.