Ticker Archive
NOVEMBER 2007
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- German KVK to open plant in New Castle
(The Star Press)
KVK U.S. Technologies, a division of the German plastics manufacturer KVK Koetke GmbH, will open its first American facility in New Castle, Indiana. KVK will invest $3 million to open the 24,000 square-foot plant early next year and plans to hire 25 people by 2010 to run the around-the-clock production facility.
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- German solar panel producer eyes Cleveland for U.S. headquarters
(WKYC.com)
I.B.C. Solar, a German manufacturer of solar panels, wants to build its American headquarters and manufacturing operations in Cleveland. There no definite word on how many potential jobs the company could create, but the number is expected to be significant.
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- T-Mobile to sell iPhone in Germany unlocked and without a contract
(Information Week)
Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit in Germany said that it will offer the iPhone unlocked and without a contract following an injunction on its iPhone sales that had been issued by a German court. DT said it will offer the iPhone for 999 euros ($1,480) without a contract and for 399 euros for consumers making a two-year commitment to the phone.
The issue was brought to a head by Vodafone Group, the second largest mobile phone service provider in Germany. Vodafone sued DT in German courts. Vodafone took advantage of German regulations and charged DT's T-Mobile operation violated competition laws.
In the U.S., Apple has an exclusive arrangement with AT&T to market the iPhone. There is some irony in DT's situation in the U.S. where its T-Mobile unit can't market the iPhone while its parent company has been forced to offer the coveted phone to all comers in Germany.
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- Daimler optimistic after Chrysler sale
(Mercury News)
Daimler AG chief executive Dieter Zetsche announced his company is in very strong shape after splitting from Chrysler, and suggested the danger of becoming a takeover target has eased. Zetsche also said that the automaker has to plans to reduce its remaining stake in Chrysler and that future acquisitions are a possibility.
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- Sale of American Water Works Co. postponed
(Forbes)
German utility RWE AG postponed a planned initial public offering of its U.S.-based water unit, citing the "currently unfavorable conditions" in U.S. markets. RWE had planned to spin off American Water Works Co., based in Voorhees, N.J., through an IPO at the end of this year as it moves to sharpen its focus on European gas and electricity markets.
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- Volkswagen to build U.S. assembly plant
(Detroit Free Press)
Volkswagen has decided to build an assembly plant in the United States, Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volkswagen of America said. The new plant will be able to produce at least 200,000 vehicles a year and will begin production in 2011 or 2012. The location of the plant has not been determined but shall be announced in the first half of 2008.
The assembly plant is part of an ambitious plan to boost VW’s U.S. sales to 800,000 by 2018. “We need products that are a better fit for the U.S. market,” Jacoby said. The new vehicles will be developed for US tastes using VW’s global architectures, which the company calls tool boxes.
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- RWE and American Electric Power cooperate in carbon dioxide capturing
(CNN Money)
RWE AG said it has signed a letter of intent with American Electric Power (AEP) to work together on an experimental hard-coal power plant that extracts carbon dioxide from exhaust fumes for storage in underground cavities.
Financial details were not disclosed. The ammonia-based technology to separate carbon dioxide from off-gases was developed by Alstom, which is also a partner in the project, RWE said in a statement. If the project succeeds, AEP plans to use the technology in a 450 MW facility by the end of the decade.
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- Adidas profit pains on cost savings after Reebok buy
(Bloomberg)
Adidas AG, the Germany-based world's second-largest sporting-goods maker, said profit rose 22 percent in the third quarter after last year's acquisition of Reebok International Ltd. let the company negotiate cheaper prices with suppliers. The annual net income advanced to $436 million
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- GM loses $39 billion in third quarter
(Forbes, Houston Chronicle)
General Motors reported a mammoth quarterly loss of $38.6 billion. GM attributed most of the loss to a charge related to accumulated deferred tax credits in the U.S., Canada and Germany. GM also blamed part of the losses on challenging conditions in the U.S. and German auto markets.
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- BSN Medical acquired FLA Orthopedics
(Business Wire)
Germany’s BSN medical announced the acquisition of FLA Orthopedics, Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary BSN medical, Inc. from international private equity house The Riverside Company for an undisclosed sum. FLA Orthopedics is a leading U.S. manufacturer and distributor of orthopaedics soft goods (OSG) and bracing products.
For BSN medical, the acquisition of FLA Orthopedics signifies an expansion of its product range in the strategic growth segment of OSG and bracing products in the U.S., the world's largest market for such products by far.
