“A high measure of flexibility, creativity and willingness to institute change is a sine qua non all around in the demanding process of integrating the two companies in a spirit of genuine partnership. “By joining forces, pooling our innovative prowess and allying our leading positions worldwide in key market segments like safety, chassis, powertrain systems and telematics/infotainment, we are extremely well placed to take on the global competition and to profit from all mega-trends in our branch of industry," he says. But he says the tie-up is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to forge a global frontrunner in the automotive supplier sector. “'It would be much worse for workers of the Siemens automotive supply unit if international financial investors had access to the technology, the jobs and the facilities.”Ĭontinental Chairman Manfred Wennemer says he is “well aware of the magnitude of the task” ahead in merging the two Top 15 automotive suppliers. “We want Conti and VDO to come together, then we will have a major automotive supplier that acts from Germany and is globally active,” Wulff is quoted as saying. It also earned support from Christian Wulff, the premier of Germany’s Lower-Saxony state, who likes the idea of Siemens VDO remaining in German hands. The merger drew applause from DaimlerChrysler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche, who during a conference call to discuss his company’s second-quarter earnings says, “'We appreciate the decision of today.” Supervisory boards of both Continental and Siemens have OK’d the sales agreement, which is subject to government approval.Ĭombined, the two will boast €24.9 billion ($34.1 billion) in sales annually and employ some 140,000 workers worldwide.Ĭontinental says about €19.1 billion ($26.2 billion) of total revenue is tied to the original equipment automotive sector (including €10.0 billion from Siemens VDO), which ranks the merged company No.5 on the list of global automotive suppliers behind Robert Bosch GmbH (€23.6 billion ), Denso Corp., Delphi Corp. In addition to Continental, TRW Automotive Inc., majority owned by private-equity firm Blackstone Group, also had expressed interest in acquiring Siemens VDO, reportedly offering as much as €12 billion ($16.4 billion) for the supplier.
The deal was announced today after months of wrangling with Siemens AG, which inadvertently had put its automotive operation in play with a disclosure it planned an initial public offering of the division. If all goes according to plan, Continental AG’s €11.4 billion ($15.6 billion) offer to buy Siemens VDO Automotive AG will put it among the biggest automotive suppliers in the world by year’s end.Ĭontinental says the proposed acquisition is the largest in the tire and parts supplier’s 136-year history.
0 kommentar(er)
