ThyssenKrupp explained

ThyssenKrupp AG
Type:Aktiengesellschaft
Location City:Duisburg and Essen
Location Country:Germany[1]
Area Served:Worldwide
Key People:Executive board


Miguel Ángel López Borrego
(CEO),
Oliver Burkhard,
Johannes Dietsch,
Jens Schulte
Supervisory board:
Siegfried Russwurm (Chairman)[2]

Industry:Conglomerate
Products:Steel, stainless products, automotive technologies, plant technologies, marine systems, shipbuilding, firearms
Revenue: €41.140 billion (2022)
Operating Income: €5.660 billion (2022)
Net Income: €1.220 billion (2022)
Assets: €37.492 billion (2022)
Equity: €14.742 billion (2022)
Num Employees:103,598 (2020)
Subsid:[3]
Owners:

ThyssenKrupp AG (pronounced as /de/; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and Essen. The company says that it is one of the largest steel producers in the world, and it was ranked tenth-largest worldwide by revenue in 2015.[5] It is divided into 670 subsidiaries worldwide. The largest shareholders are the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation and Cevian Capital.[6] ThyssenKrupp's products range from machines and industrial services to high-speed trains, elevators, and shipbuilding. The subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems also manufactures frigates, corvettes, and submarines for the German and foreign navies.

In 2018, ThyssenKrupp announced that the company would split into two companies, ThyssenKrupp Industrials and ThyssenKrupp Materials, but this plan was cancelled in May 2019.[7]

History

ThyssenKrupp is the result of a merger of two German steel companies, Thyssen AG founded in 1891 under the name Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser and Krupp founded in 1811. As early as the 1980s, the companies began negotiations on a merger and began closely cooperating in some business areas. In 1997, the companies combined their flat steel activities, with a full merger completed in March 1999.[8]

Beginnings (1811–1891)

Krupp

Thyssen

Wilhelminian period (1892–1917)

Krupp

Thyssen

Weimar Republic (1918–1933)

Krupp

Thyssen

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

Krupp

Thyssen

Mergers and acquisitions

During a period of expansion in 1978, Thyssen AG entered the North American automotive industry with the acquisition of Budd's automotive operations,[10] which became the automotive division of Thyssen and operated in North America as Budd Thyssen, later ThyssenKrupp Budd Incorporated. In October 2006, ThyssenKrupp sold ThyssenKrupp Budd's North American body and chassis operations to Martinrea International Inc.[11]

In 1988, ThyssenKrupp acquired German shock absorber manufacturer Bilstein, when it became a division until 2005, when it became a wholly owned subsidiary.[12] In 1991, ThyssenKrupp acquired German company Hoesch AG. In 1999, Thyssen (one of the companies of the merger to form Thyssenkrupp Elevator) acquired the elevator division of American-based conglomerate Dover Corporation. Four years later, ThyssenKrupp acquired the Korean-based Dongyang Elevator.

In 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel from One Equity Partners. One Equity Partners holds 25% of the TKMS shares. In December 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired 60% of Atlas Elektronik from BAE Systems, with EADS acquiring the remaining 40%.

In August 2007, ThyssenKrupp Materials North America acquired OnlineMetals.com, a small-quantity distributor of semi-finished metals and plastics based in Seattle.[13] In early 2008, ThyssenKrupp Aerospace acquired Apollo Metals and Aviation Metals, both suppliers to aerospace and defence based in Kent, Washington.

In June 2012, ThyssenKrupp sold Thyssenkrupp Waupaca to KPS Capital Partners. ThyssenKrupp Waupaca is a tier two supplier to the automotive industry, located in Waupaca, Wisconsin. In April 2014, ThyssenKrupp announced it was in talks to sell its Swedish maritime defence unit to Saab after failing to agree deals with the Swedish government for a new generation of submarines.[14]

ThyssenKrupp Access, the global manufacturer of home elevators, wheelchair lifts, and stairlifts, has linked up with Chennai-based Indian Company Elite Elevators. The company has launched luxury home elevators segments targeting HNI Clientele[15] to launch high-end elevators in India.[16] In June 2018, Thyssenkrupp signed a final agreement with India's Tata Steel to establish a long-expected steel venture. The 50-50 joint venture was called Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel and it became the second-largest steel producer in Europe, after ArcelorMittal.[17]

On 1 October 2023 the firm instituted a green energy division, Decarbon Technologies, to develop its energy solutions.[18]

Divestments and Restructures of Steel Business

Steel Europe

In September 2017, ThyssenKrupp and India-based Tata Steel announced plans to combine their European steel-making businesses. The final agreement was signed in June 2018. The deal would have structured the European assets as ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel, a 50–50 joint venture headquartered in Amsterdam and created the second-largest steel producer in Europe.[17] [19] The merger was finally prohibited by the EU Commission in 2019 for competitive concerns.[20]

Steel Americas

On 11 May 2007, ThyssenKrupp AG invested €3.1 billion (increased to $4.6 billion in 2010) for a project consisting of building new carbon steel and stainless steel processing facilities in Calvert, Alabama about 40 miles north of Mobile. The project, along with a multibillion-dollar greenfield steel-making facility in Brazil, was a cornerstone of ThyssenKrupp's new global expansion strategy into the North American steel markets.[21] The carbon steel and stainless steel companies were independent and operated under different management teams. Co-locating both facilities on the same site enabled the company to optimize the investment in infrastructure and in some shared processing.

Additionally, the Alabama State Port Authority invested over $100 million to build a state-of-the-art transloading slab terminal on the southern tip of Pinto Island in Mobile Bay to service the inbound raw material slabs for the upriver carbon steel facility. The terminal was necessary since the Tombigbee River depth and lack of turning basins prohibit deep draft ship navigation to the site in Calvert.[22]

The world steel industry peaked in 2007, just as the company spent $12 billion to build the two most modern mills in the world, in Alabama and Brazil. The worldwide Great Recession started in 2008. Heavy cutbacks in construction combined with sharply lowered demand, and prices fell 40%. ThyssenKrupp lost $11 billion on its two new plants, which sold steel below the cost of production. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless portion of the US plant, was sold to Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012.[23] Finally in 2013, ThyssenKrupp offered the remaining portion of the plant for sale at under $4 billion.[24] They sold it to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel the following year for $1.55 billion.[25] In February 2017, it agreed to sell its Brazilian steel business CSA to Ternium for €1.5 billion. The two transactions meant that Thyssenkrupp fully parted from the Steel Americas business.[26]

ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks

In September 2012, ThyssenKrupp agreed to sell the automotive components manufacturer Tailored Blanks to the Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation, based in China for an undisclosed price.[27] At the time of the agreement Tailored Blanks had annual sales of around 700 million euros and a global market share of about 40 percent in automotive laser-welded blanks.[27]

ThyssenKrupp Elevator

In April 2015, ThyssenKrupp announced it would invest more than €800 million in the North American region by 2020 to take advantage of the economy's reindustrialization.[28] In February 2020, ThyssenKrupp AG's board announced that it would sell its elevator segment to Advent International, Cinven, and RAG foundation for $18.9 billion.[29] The transaction closed in July 2020, and the new stand-alone company was named .

Financial data

Financial data in € billions[30] [31] [32] !Year!2013!2014!2015!2016!2017!2018!2019!2020!2021!2022
Revenue38.55941.30442.77839.26341.44742.74541.99628.88934.0241.14
Net Income−1.5890.0090.2790.2610.271−0.060−0.260−5.5411.0450.975
Assets35.30436.04535.69435.07235.04834.42636.47536.490
Employees156,856160,745154,906156,487158,739161,096162,372103,598

Carbon footprint

ThyssenKrupp reported Total e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 30 September 2020 at 22,700 Kt (−1,400 /-5.8% y-o-y).[33]

Employees

the company had over 100,000 employees worldwide. After a financial struggle in 2020, and a loss of over €5.5 billion, ThyssenKrupp announced that it will be cutting over 11,000 jobs, 7,000 of which are located in Germany.[36]

Products and sales

ThyssenKrupp generates 33% of its consolidated sales in its home market. The rest of the European Union (EU) (28%) and the NAFTA region (21%) are the key trading partners for business and exports outside Germany.

Business areas

The operations are organized in five business areas:[37]

Construction of the corporate headquarters began in 2007. The first buildings were complete in 2010; the second phase of the building was completed in June 2015. Situated in the west of Essen, the corporate campus was designed by Chaix & Morel et associeés (Paris) and JSWD Architekten (Cologne). Their design was selected for construction in an architectural design competition[38] in 2006.

Controversies

Price fixing

In November 2006, five elevator manufacturers including ThyssenKrupp, were found guilty of price fixing by the EU, over nine years,[39] along with competitors Otis Elevator Co., Schindler Group, Kone, and Mitsubishi Elevator Europe. On 21 February 2007, ThyssenKrupp was fined €479 million by the EU (Otis was fined $US295 million).[39] The EU Competition Commission reported that the companies had worked to rig bids for procurement contracts, share markets, and fix prices between at least 1995 and 2004.[39] The Commission reported that the companies "did not contest the facts" found by EU regulators, noting none of the accused requested a hearing to answer the allegations. The fines totaled US$1.3 billion.[39]

In July 2012, the German Bundeskartellamt served fines totalling €124.5 million on ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik GmbH, Essen (€103m); Stahlberg Roensch GmbH, Seevetal, which since 2010 belongs to the Vossloh group (€13m); TSTG Schienen Technik GmbH & Co. KG, Duisburg, a subsidiary of the Voestalpine group (€4.5m); and Voestalpine BWG GmbH & Co. KG, Butzbach, another Voestalpine subsidiary (€4m) for price-fixing of steel railway lines and points blades supplied to Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway. According to Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, "For many years the rail suppliers have guaranteed each other virtually constant shares of Deutsche Bahn's contract volume. The cartel members monitored compliance with the contract volume quotas, assigned each other projects, and set protective prices in order to steer the contract award process." The proceedings had been triggered by an application for leniency filed by the Austrian company Voestalpine AG. Investigations into further companies are ongoing.

Turin plant fire and trial

On the early morning of 6 December 2007, an accident on the annealing and pickling line of the ThyssenKrupp plant in Turin, Italycaused the death of seven steelworkers.[40] The accident happened between 00:45 and 00:48, when the eight workers that were then on duty attempted to extinguish a localized small pool fire with fire extinguishers and a fire hydrant, without success. About 400L of hydraulic oil escaped during the rupture of a hydraulic circuit which caused a violent jet fire engulfing the workers that were fighting the fire.

CEO Espenhahn was charged by the State prosecutor of Turin with "voluntary multiple murder with possible malice" ("omicidio volontario multiplo con dolo eventuale"), while five other managers and executives have been charged with "culpable murder with conscious guilt".[41] On Friday 15 April 2011, Espenhahn and all the other indictees were pronounced guilty of all charges; he was sentenced to 16 years and 6 months in jail and barred from holding public office for life. Prior to the court case, Espenhahn was transferred from Italy and is now believed to live in Brazil. On 23 February 2013, the Appellate Court changed the sentence for him to culpable murder, not recognizing the voluntary murder, thus reducing the conviction. Convictions for the other managers were also reduced.

In May 2016, the appeal court reduced the sentence for Espenhahn to 9 years and 8 months, the other 5 managers (4 Italians and 1 German) between 6 and 7 years. Priegnitz the German manager, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months.[42] According to the bilateral laws between Germany and Italy, the convicted can serve the term in his home country and with accordance to this countries' laws. Since accounts of first-degree murder have been appealed down to aggravated negligent manslaughter, the German convicts are expecting further reductions that would eventually not exceed 5 years.

Bribery and conflict of interest

ThyssenKrupp is suspected of corruption in deals made in Israel, Turkey, South Africa and also in Pakistan, where the deal did not mature. In Greece, the defense minister was sentenced to prison for accepting a bribe from a consortium in which one of the members was ThyssenKrupp.[43] [44] [45]

Incidents

ThyssenKrupp has been the target of major, organised hacking attacks on several occasions, attacking the company's trade secrets.

On 8 December 2016, it was disclosed the company was attacked in February of that year. Internally uncovered in April 2016, it took their IT team around six months to fix. The hack is thought to have originated from South-East Asia and was successful in retrieving information from various departments, including the plant engineering division.[46] In 2012, ThyssenKrupp and other European companies were attacked by Chinese hackers.[47]

On August 15, a fire broke out at the Thyssenkrupp warehouse in Völklingen. The building where plastic products and solar panels were stored caught fire. Smoke from the burning warehouse was visible from Saarbrücken, 15 kilometers away. 200 firefighters fought the fire for more than 30 hours. The roof of the building collapsed.[48]

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Press release – Press releases – thyssenkrupp AG. 3 December 2014. Thyssenkrupp.com. 5 April 2009. 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191057/http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/presse/art_detail.html%26eid%3Dtk_pnid369. dead.
  2. Web site: Management. 6 October 2019. Thyssenkrupp.com.
  3. Web site: Thyssenkrupp Subsidiaries 2019. 7 April 2023.
  4. Web site: Shareholder structure . 4-traders.com.
  5. https://www.statista.com/statistics/270128/the-largest-steel-companies-worldwide-based-on-revenue/ "The world's largest steel companies in 2015, based on revenue"
  6. Web site: THYSSENKRUPP (TKA). www.4-traders.com. 19 July 2018.
  7. News: Thyssenkrupp Abandons Planned Split, Pursues Elevator-Unit IPO. Bender. Ruth. 10 May 2019. Wall Street Journal. 16 May 2019. en-US. 0099-9660.
  8. Web site: Krupp – Lead up to the merger with Thyssen. 30 September 2013. Thyssenkrupp.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928085138/http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/konzern/geschichte_konzern_k5.html. 28 September 2011.
  9. Web site: About this Service | Federal Research Division | Services | Library of Congress. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. 7 April 2023.
  10. Web site: Internationalization and further vertical diversification – Bonn Republic – Thyssenkrupp AG. 30 September 2013. Thyssenkrupp.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150626140840/http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/konzern/geschichte_chronik_t1978.html. 26 June 2015.
  11. Web site: Thyssenkrupp Budd to sell North American automotive body operations. americanmachinist.com. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120401165834/http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/News/Article/False/38615/. 1 April 2012.
  12. Web site: BILSTEIN Corporate. BILSTEIN. 7 April 2023.
  13. "ThyssenKrupp Materials NA acquires OnlineMetals.com" ThyssenKrupp 17 August 2007.
    Web site: The Story of OnlineMetals.com. onlinemetals.com.
  14. News: Thyssenkrupp in talks to sell Swedish naval shipyard to Saab. Mia Shanley . Bjorn Rundstrom . amp . Reuters . 15 April 2014.
  15. Web site: Home Elevators India | Residential Lifts – Elite Elevators ®. Elite Elevators – No 1 Domestic Home Lifts & Platform Elevators India. 7 April 2023.
  16. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/Thyssenkrupp-access-unveils-highend-home-elevator/article9937311.ece Thyssenkrupp Access unveils high-end home elevator
  17. Web site: Reuters | Breaking International News & Views. Reuters. 7 April 2023.
  18. Christoph Steitz and Lisa Shumaker. (14 September 2023). "Thyssenkrupp creates green tech division, launches performance programme". Reuters website Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  19. News: Thyssenkrupp, Tata Seal Long-Awaited European Steel Deal. Turner. Zeke. 20 September 2017. The Wall Street Journal. 21 September 2017. Patterson. Scott. New York City, New York, United States.
  20. Web site: Press corner. 23 March 2021. European Commission – European Commission. en.
  21. Web site: Press release . 3 December 2014 . Thyssenkrupp AG . 18 February 2022 . 3 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193605/http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/presse/art_detail.html%26eid%3DTKBase_1178868417679_1659377840 . dead .
  22. Web site: Alabama State Port Authority to Build New Steel Terminal . 14 July 2011 . 19 November 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101119150726/http://asdd.com/pdf/news_05152007.pdf . dead .
  23. News: New owners of ThyssenKrupp stainless steel division plan visit in June . Press-Register . 31 May 2012 . 15 June 2013.
  24. John W. Miller and Ike Henning, "Thiessen gets offers for mills: Final bids for steel complexes in Alabama, Brazil will likely fall short of the company's hopes", The Wall Street Journal 1 March 2013
  25. Web site: ThyssenKrupp no more, Calvert steel processing plant gets a new name after acquisition. II. Michael Finch. AL.com. 28 February 2014 . en-US. 16 December 2018.
  26. News: Thyssenkrupp sells Brazilian steel business. 23 February 2017. Financial Times.
  27. News: Thyssenkrupp to sell Tailored Blanks to WISCO. 30 September 2012. Reuters. 28 September 2012.
  28. Web site: Georgina Prodhan. Thyssenkrupp to invest $866 million in North America . Reuters . 24 April 2015 . 29 April 2015.
  29. Web site: StackPath . IndustryWeek.com . 27 February 2020 . 28 February 2020 .
  30. Web site: ThyssenKrupp Bilanz, Gewinn und Umsatz ThyssenKrupp Geschäftsbericht 750000. wallstreet-online.de. 5 November 2018.
  31. Web site: ThyssenKrupp – net sales 2021–2022. Statista. 7 April 2023.
  32. Web site: ThyssenKrupp AG Net Income 2012–2022 | TYEKF. www.macrotrends.net. 7 April 2023.
  33. Web site: Thyssenkrupp's ESG Datasheet for 2020Q3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210118014030/https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/company/sustainability/environment/energy . 18 January 2021 . Alt URL
  34. Web site: Thyssenkrupp's ESG Datasheet for 2020Q3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210118014030/https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/company/sustainability/environment/energy . 18 January 2021 . Alt URL
  35. Web site: Thyssenkrupp's ESG Datasheet for 2020Q3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210118014030/https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/company/sustainability/environment/energy . 18 January 2021 . Alt URL
  36. News: Thyssenkrupp to cut 5,000 more jobs after slumping to €5.5bn loss . . Joe . Miller . 19 November 2020 . 19 November 2020 .
  37. Web site: Business Areas. 20 November 2014. Thyssenkrupp.com.
  38. Web site: [phase eins]. – ThyssenKrupp Quartier in Essen – Architectural competition]. www.phase1.de. 7 April 2023.
  39. "Elevator makers fined $1.3B for price-fixing" (news), Purchasing.com – Reed Business Information, Feb. 2007, webpage: Purchcom-8053.
  40. http://www.aidic.it/cet/12/26/103.pdf The Thyssen Krupp Accident in Torino: Investigation Methods, Accident Dynamics and Lesson Learned 2012
  41. News: Thyssen, a processo i sei imputati, "Fu omicidio volontario". Corriere.it. 17 November 2008. 6 May 2009. it.
  42. News: Tödlicher Brand bei Thyssenkrupp: Italiener wollen Deutsche in Haft sehen . 15 October 2017. n-tv.de. 29 November 2017.
  43. News: 5 December 2019. Israeli prosecutors announce charges over submarine deal with Germany. en. Reuters. 5 November 2020.
  44. Web site: 25 January 2020. Bribery scandal on Greek Submarines Project. 5 November 2020. greekcorruption.dk. en-GB.
  45. News: אוני. אסף. 29 March 2019. פרשת הצוללות: כך פיתחה טיסנקרופ תלות בישראל ובמצרים. Globes. 5 November 2020.
  46. News: Trade secrets stolen from Thyssenkrupp in major hack. 8 December 2016. The Stack. en-GB. 8 December 2016.
  47. News: EADS, Thyssenkrupp attacked by Chinese hackers: report. 24 February 2017. Reuters. 8 December 2016.
  48. Web site: Thyssenkrupp-Halle brennt seit mehr als 30 Stunden. de. 2024-08-16. Bild.