Thyssenkrupp Trades Lower After Proposal to Dismiss CEO

   By Kim Richters 
 

Shares in Thyssenkrupp AG (TKA.XE) fell Wednesday after the steel maker's supervisory board recommended starting talks about dismissing Chief Executive Guido Kerkhoff, a move supported by shareholder Cevian Capital.

At 0857 GMT, shares in the German conglomerate traded 2.1% lower at EUR12.22.

The personnel committee of the board said that Martina Merz, currently chairwoman of the supervisory board, could replace Mr. Kerkhoff as an interim CEO for up to 12 months. Mr. Kerkhoff was appointed in the summer of 2018.

Thyssenkrupp's shareholder Cevian Capital AB, who owns 13.71% of the company according to Factset, said that it supported the appointment of Ms. Merz.

"We expect that the new leadership will speed up the transformation process that Thyssenkrupp so urgently needs, and improve the quality of implementation," it said.

The German industrial conglomerate has been undergoing an overhaul for some time, which includes a potential partial or whole sale or listing of its elevator business, after abandoning an earlier plan to split the entire company in two.

According to analysts at Jefferies, the move to start talks to end Mr. Kerkhoff's mandate "will mark the end to a tumultuous 14-month period for the share price during his tenure as chief executive."

Olaf Ridder contributed to this article.

Write to Kim Richters at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2019 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT)

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