After agreement with Tata: the CEO of thyssenkrupp Hiesinger wants to leave – the hope of a change of strategy leads to actions | message

He had asked the Supervisory Board to rescind the contract, as the Dax Group had announced on Thursday night after closing. The surprise announcement came a few days after the manager, after a long standoff, finalized the merger of the steel business with the European activities of Tata Steel.

The supervisory board will vote on Hiesinger's request this Friday. The first concerns about a breakup of the group now turn around. The resignation request was preceded by a permanent conflict, particularly with financial investor Cevian, thyssenkrupp's second largest shareholder, about furthering the Group's alignment. Cevian did not comment on Hiesinger's decision at first. The stock reacted with significant gains and at the beginning of trading rose 6.6% to EUR 22.90 and remains positive over time.

"I deliberately do this not to discuss the future of the supervisory board in principle thyssenkrupp," Hiesinger said. A joint agreement between the Management Board and the Supervisory Board on the strategic direction of the company is a prerequisite for the success of the corporate government, he added. The broad support of the shareholders and the Supervisory Board has been the basis of the Group's strategic development success since 2011.

The manager thus reported that it was the last time that he was there. Had missed. According to media reports, two regulators voted against the merger of steel, including Cevian. There was also an abstention. The "Rheinische Post" wrote on Friday that Hiesinger had also missed the donation of the thyssenkrupp Foundation, with 21% of its biggest shareholders, who, although supporters of the steel merger, had not sufficiently strengthened Hiesinger

The merger of steel is an essential step in the transformation of the company. Subsequently, the manager wanted to focus the group on industrial activities such as elevators, components for the automotive industry and facilities engineering. Until now, thyssenkrupp has been considered a complicated network of a whole range of different companies. By mid-July, Hiesinger wanted to present his plans to the Supervisory Board. However, no other fundamental measure has been anticipated.

Some shareholders – especially Cevian – do not move quickly and, above all, not radically enough. In an increasingly rapid succession, Cevian publicly criticized Hiesinger's hesitant course and openly sympathizes with a breakup of the band. In the spring, American activist investor Paul Singer and his Elliott hedge fund also joined thyssenkrupp and strongly criticized Hiesinger's stock price. Elliott is well known for interfering in corporate business policies.

Cevian co-founder, Lars Frberg, recently called for more freedom for individual divisions on the Siemens model. This would facilitate the commuting of individual areas or partial sales. In doing so, he had an eye on the lucrative elevator sector.

Frberg attacked again directly after the decision on the Hiesinger steel smelting. "thyssenkrupp has failed with the conglomerate's strategy and its matrix organization, and now it is necessary to rigorously examine for each of the divisions that structure and which property ratios are the most appropriate," explained the founding partner. Magabe must be industrial logic, "not taboos, historical development, emotions or personal ambitions". The stock could be significantly more valuable – in "the right decisions" it estimates 50 euros per share possible.

This is diametrically opposed to the Hiesinger ideas – this rejected a dissolution always with vehemence. He saw the greatest benefits in an integrated business model. After the probable departure of Hiesinger, employee representatives are now alarmed.

The head of the group's business council, Wilhelm Segerath, warned against the dissolution and liquidation of the industrial group. He sees the danger that the rest of the conglomerate will be shattered by financial investors, said Segerath, the German news agency. The representative of IG Metall is a member of the supervisory board of thyssenkrupp

For Ingo-Martin Schachel, an badyst at Commerzbank, the task of the new boss should be to further rationalize the industrial group and take action to achieve more Have money. The strategy meeting scheduled for next week may well be postponed until the arrival of a possible new boss, he wrote in a study released Friday.

Hiesinger took the lead seven years ago in a deep crisis. thyssenkrupp badumed financial responsibility for the construction of steel mills in the United States and Brazil and poured billions into it. Corruption problems shook the group. Hiesinger is revolted, escaped the half of the board of directors

The group sold US factories, as well as a number of other companies such as the stainless steel division and the civil shipbuilding. Financial ratios improved, risks decreased and Hiesinger tore up the balance sheet. "Without Heinrich Hiesinger, thyssenkrupp would no longer exist," said Thursday evening the chairman of the Supervisory Board, Ulrich Lehner

But divisions are still lagging behind their performance targets, which does not not that displeasing to Cevian. The weak points of the Group are the continued cash outflow from operations and the high level of debt. Here, the agreement with Tata is to bring the blow of the release and thyssenkrupp again air for the investments to create.

For thyssenkrupp conversion must now look for a new boss. The financial director Guido Kerkhoff is considered a possible transition boss, as the "Rheinische Post" writes, citing industrial circles. The boss of the steel Andreas Goss is bound by the Tata affair. The expert at Commerzbank Schachel sees good chances that a successor will be found quickly, but there are no obvious candidates for the job.

ESSEN (dpa-AFX)

Image Sources: ThyssenKrupp AG, Quinta / Shutterstock.com, ThyssenKrupp