ThyssenKrupp

ThyssenKrupp AG (isin: DE0007500001) is a very large German industrial conglomerate, with about 192,000 employees. The corporation consists of 670 single companies worldwide. ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest steel producers. It operates worldwide in three business areas: steel, capital goods, and services. The steel unit concentrates on carbon steel and stainless steel, while the capital goods unit consists of three segments: elevators, automotive (parts, sub-assemblies, and modules), and technologies (machine tools, large-diameter bearings, and industrial doors). The services sector provides tailor-made materials, environmental services, mechanical engineering, and scaffolding services. The company is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen and Krupp. It is registered in Essen and Duisburg (both Germany). As of 2005 23.58% of the company shares are held by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation.

Products and sales
ThyssenKrupp generates 33% of its consolidated sales on its home market. The rest of the EU (European Union) (28%) and the NAFTA region (21%) are the key foreign regions for its business outside Germany. ThyssenKrupp companies hold leading positions with their products in numerous international markets.

Mergers and acquisitions
ThyssenKrupp itself is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen and Krupp. In 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel from One Equity Partners. ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is now the most important European group of shipbuilders. In addition to HDW, Blohm + Voss in Hamburg as well as Nordseewerke at Emden are also subsidiaries of TKMS. 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%.

News events
In November 2006, five elevator manufacturers, including ThyssenKrupp, were found guilty of price fixing by the EU, over 9 years, along with Otis Elevator Co., Schindler Group, Kone Oyj and Mitsubishi Elevator Europe. A few months later on February 21, 2007, ThyssenKrupp was fined US$629 million (479 million euros) by the EU (Otis was fined $295 million). 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. 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 total fines of US$1.3 billion were viewed as an effort by EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes to wipe out cartels.

On May 11, 2007, ThyssenKrupp announced an investment of 3.1 billion euros (US$4.19 billion) for a new steel processing facility in southern Alabama. The announcement came after several months of competition between a site on the Mississippi River in Convent, Louisiana, and a site on the Tombigbee River, near Mount Vernon, Alabama, in Mobile County, about 30 miles north of Mobile. The hot strip mill will process steel slabs manufactured at ThyssenKrupp's steel mill in Brazil. The mill, which will be operational in 2010, is expected to employ 29,000 people during construction, and 2,700 people once operational.

On December 6, 2007, a fatal fire accident inside a plant in Turin, Italy caused the death of seven steelworkers. The Italian magistrates are still examining the causes of the fire, with workers describing slack safety measures to investigators. During the investigations, a document was seized from Harald Espenhahn (CEO of the Italian division of Thyssenkrupp). The document states that the only survivor should be taken to court, because he is accusing Thyssenkrupp in television. The document also states that the fire was due to the fact that the workers were distracted.