Analysis: Germany's oldest companies face fresh break-up calls

  • 📰 Reuters
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 68 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 31%
  • Publisher: 97%

Business News News

Business Business Latest News,Business Business Headlines

Activist investors are renewing their years-long efforts to break up some of Germany's most venerable companies, seeing streamlining as a promising route to reviving share prices as Europe's top economy emerges from the energy crisis.

, said the United States was much more advanced, and also more successful, in the field of shareholder activism.

"A leaner set-up can take advantage of untapped energy and crystallise hidden value, especially in a complex environment with difficult market conditions," he told Reuters. As CEO of conglomerate Siemens AG from 2013 until 2021, he engineered one of Germany's most successful corporate break-ups, separately listing Siemens Energy and Siemens HealthineersManagement and governance problems are still rife in Germany, creating activist opportunities, said Kaeser. He said a certain "friends and family" attitude in German board rooms meant there was less awareness that companies belong to their shareholders than elsewhere.

For Siemens shareholders, the slimming-down paid off. German wealth manager Flossbach von Storch said last month Siemens had created around 126 billion euros in value - defined by dividends, share buybacks and stock price development - since 2003, the most among all German listed companies. But another leaner machine serves as a reminder that there's no guarantee shrinking will unlock value - conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, which has been shedding assets for years, is among the biggest value destroyers, the study found.Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Svea Herbst, David Carnevali and Emma-Victoria Farr; Editing by Josephine Mason and Jan Harvey

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 2. in BUSÄ°NESS

Business Business Latest News, Business Business Headlines