Ticker Archive
July 2008
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- Siemens may say profit increased on Power Plant Sales
(Bloomberg)
Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, may say third-quarter earnings rose 45 percent on sales of generators in China and wind turbines in the U.S. Operating profit increased to $2.2 billion. Siemens lifted sales at its energy division by 8.7 percent. The German company won contracts to replace obsolete U.S. substations and supply coal-fired plants to China, which is investing $150 billion in grid expansion.
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- SAP beats second-quarter expectations
(TheStreet.com)
A return of demand in the U.S. market helped business-software vendor SAP beat Wall Street's second-quarter expectations. The German business software company reported revenue of $4.55 billion, excluding an $81 million writedown of revenue from the acquisition of Business Objects, a developer of business intelligence software. That was 20% growth from $3.79 billion a year earlier. U.S. business sentiment "was better than we expected," compared with the first quarter, Co-CEO Leo Apotheker said.
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- Siemens finds investor for networking business
(EE Times Europe)
Siemens AG has found an investor for its enterprise networking unit SEN. US-based private equity company Gores Group (Los Angeles, USA) takes the majority of the unit. SEN with about 17.000 employees and annual sales of $5 billion will be transferred into a joint venture of which Gores group will hold 51 percent. The minority position of 49 percent will Siemens continue to hold. Both parties will invest $275 million into the JV. According to Siemens, this sum comes on top of the R&D investments planned anyway and will be used to drive SEN's transition from a hardware vendor to a software and services oriented company.
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- ClickSoftware signed contract with T-Home
(Fox Business)
ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd.,the leading provider of mobile workforce management and service optimization solutions, announced that is has signed a major contract with T-Home, the residential broadband service subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, for licenses to continue to use its ClickSchedule product. The contract will be used to automate the scheduling and route optimization for more than 25,000 field resources, one of the largest single-company workforces in the world.
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- ZF to acquire Cherry Corporation
(Market Watch)
ZF Friedrichshafen AG is further expanding its leading worldwide automotive supplier position for Driveline and Chassis Technology. ZF will acquire the Cherry Corporation, headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Pending government approval, Cherry will continue as an independent business unit of ZF Electronics in the ZF Group.
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- Siemens benefits from growth driver Renewable Energy
(Bloomberg)
Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher plans to cut 16,750 jobs as Siemens seeks to match the profitability of General Electric Co. and ABB Ltd. Siemens follows other European engineering companies in reducing jobs to boost profitability. "Siemens will benefit from the mega trends like the building up of infrastructure,'' said Theo Kitz, a Munich-based analyst at Merck Finck & Co. "Renewable energy is clearly a growth driver."
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- Evergreen Solar opens a new facility in Devens
(Press Release)
Evergreen Solar, Inc., a German-American manufacturer of String Ribbon solar power panels with its proprietary wafer technology, officially opened its new, 160-megawatt production facility in Devens, Mass. Evergreen Solar will employ 700 new employees at the Devens facility and provide salaries and benefits in excess of $44 million.
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- Daimler to cut production in the U.S.
(Thomson Financial News)
Daimler AG. is cutting production in the second half of this year in both Germany and the United States in response to shrinking demand for cars.The German carmaker has already agreed to cancel some shifts in Sindelfingen, Germany and in Tuscaloosa in the U.S. It is not yet clear how many factories will be affected. Daimler said its second-quarter EBIT fell to 2.053 billion euros, down from 2.134 billion euros, and cut its full-year 2008 outlook for the whole group and two key divisions.
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- Bayer appoints Pfizer's Fibig as new CEO
(Thomson Financial News)
Bayer AG said it appointed Andreas Fibig, an executive at Pfizer Inc., as the new chief executive at its prescription drug subsidiary Bayer Schering Pharma AG, replacing Arthur Higgins. Fibig, a German national who started his career in the health care industry at Schering, is currently Senior Vice President in charge of Pfizer's U.S. business related to neurology, inflammation and pain.
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- German manufacturer to open Lincoln County plant
(Gaston Gazette)
Sennebogen North America will open a 48,000 square foot parts distribution, training and technical support center in eastern Lincoln County. The 50-year-old family-owned company from Straubing, Germany manufactures specialized bulk material-handling equipment. The center represents capital investments of $5.1 million. Sennebogen expects to bring 25 new jobs to the facility within two years.
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- Auburn company under German ownership
(The Auburn villager)
One Auburn manufacturing company is now under new ownership. German-based Borbet Group has acquired Auburn-based ATS Light Alloy Wheels Alabama Inc. Borbet is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of light metal alloy wheels for the automobile industry.The company is scheduled to produce approximately 14.2 million aluminum wheels in 2008, generating sales of approximately 680 million EUROS.
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- Rohde & Schwarz selects Kenexa's products
(CNN Money)
Kenexa, a global provider of talent acquisition and retention solutions, announced it has been selected by Rohde & Schwarz, to provide an employee engagement survey for its entire staff, as well as a manager feedback survey for its top leaders. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Rohde & Schwarz is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcasting, radiomonitoring and radiolocation as well as mission-critical radiocommunications.
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- SAP will shut TomorrowNow subsidiary by end of October
(IT World)
SAP plans to close its TomorrowNow software maintenance subsidiary by Oct. 31, having failed to find a buyer for the company. It will help TomorrowNow's 225 customers to find new support providers before the company closes its doors.
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- German Element-Systems sets sights on North American residential market
(Press Release)
Element-System of Germany, a manufacturer with a half century long legacy of producing commercial display and storage systems for the retail fixturing segment, is expanding its reach into the home storage sector in both Canada and the United States. The Canadian and American expansion is managed by Texas-based Modern Living Products, the Element-System agents for the Americas since 2007. Over 30 Element-System dealers have been chosen and products are on sale across the U.S. and Canada.
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- mobivention scoops American Greetings brands
(Mobile Entertainment)
mobivention is to license American Greetings IP such as Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. The German company will initially offer wallpapers and videos of the popular brands, with MMS-based greeting cards, themes and Java games planned for development in the longer term. Care Bears has generated around $2,4 billion in retail sales since the re-launch of the brand in 2002 while the Strawberry Shortcakes brand has sold over 25 million dolls and 10 million toy accessories. It bought the download business of imaging specialist Airmotion in May.
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- Facebook sues German studiVZ
(Reuters)
Facebook, the largest social networking site in the U.S., has sued German social networking site studiVZ on the grounds that studiVZ has copied the look and feel of Facebook in order to piggyback off their success. The German company sued by Facebook for running a "knockoff" of the social networking Web site. It asked a German court to declare that Facebook's claims are without merit. Facebook seeks "to end StudiVZ's illegal activity" lest Facebook's own reputation be harmed by association.
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- Jenoptik to boost North American Traffic-Camera sales
(Bloomberg)
Jenoptik AG, Europe's largest maker of traffic cameras, plans to double sales of the equipment in North America next year to challenge Redflex Holdings Ltd.'s lead in that market. Installations will rise to 300 cameras in the U.S. As the traffic-safety market in Germany becomes saturated, Jenoptik is expanding in the U.S. Illinois and Maryland are among states that have passed laws allowing authorities to use photographic evidence of traffic violations.
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- Bilfinger Berger buys U.S. firm Tepsco
(Reuters UK)
Bilfinger Berger, Germany's second largest builder, has bought U.S. industrial services specialist Tepsco from private investor Churchill Equity. Bilfinger Berger's output volume in industrial services on the market in the United States will double to over 350 million euros ($556.9 million) with the acquisition of Tepsco.Texas-based Tepsco will generate an output volume of about 180 million euros in the coming year, Bilfinger said.
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- Duff & Phelps enters into Global Alliance with German World Tax Service
(Press Release)
Duff & Phelps Corporation, a leading independent financial advisory and investment banking firm, announced that it has entered into a global alliance with World Tax Service (WTS Alliance) and acquired the US Alliance Member, World Tax Service US (WTS-US). WTS Alliance was formed in 2003 by WTS AG, one of the leading German tax consultancy firms. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. They look forward to deepening their relationship to serve the needs of their multinational clients.
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- German based Continental AG to invest $60 Million in U.S. plant
(Charlotte Business Journal)
Continental AG will invest $60 million to boost output and move some of its European tire production to North America to cut costs. The $60 million investment will be made over the next three years. About 75 jobs will be created. The company had announced that it intended to spend $160 million at the Mount Vernon plant, separately from the $60 million.
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- Magnum Group receives 2008 Best of Philadelphia Award
(Press Release)
Each year, the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) identifies local companies that have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. Magnum Group, Inc.’s selection as a 2008 Award Winner was determined by its successful multilingual communication efforts through service to its customers and the community.
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- Volkswagen chooses Tennessee site for new U.S. plant
(Press Release)
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced today that it will build a U.S. automotive production facility in Chattanooga, TN. VW will invest $1 billion and bring about 2,000 direct jobs. Initial production capacity for the facility is anticipated to be 150,000 vehicles, including a new midsize sedan designed specifically for the North American market. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2011.
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- TÜVRheinland aquires Unified Testing Services in Alabama
(Press Release)
TÜVRheinland, the world leader in independent testing and certification services, has acquired Unified Testing Services, Inc. (UTS), a full-service testing and consulting engineering firm based in Woodstock, Ala. The acquisition folds a variety of new services into TÜVRheinland's portfolio and makes UTS a standalone member of TÜVRheinland of North America Group.
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- Bertelsmann sells North American book club
(Herald Tribune)
Bertelsmann AG says it is selling its North American book club business to U.S. private investor Najafi Companies, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Germany-based Bertelsmann says that the deal is expected to close during the third quarter.
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- VW's decision on U.S. plant expected after July 15
(Associated Press)
Germany's Volkswagen AG likely will announce a decision on its plans for a new U.S. plant after a supervisory board meeting on July 15, a Christoph Adomat, a spokesman for VW said. Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, has been considering a new production facility in Alabama, Tennessee or Michigan.
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- Fresenius pays $3.7B for U.S. drugmaker APP
(PR-Inside)
Fresenius SE said it has agreed to buy U.S. generic drug maker APP Pharmaceuticals for $3.7 billion in cash in a deal that will give the German health care company more opportunities in the North American market for drugs administered intravenously. APP will be combined with the U.S. subsidiary of Fresenius Kabi, the companies said.
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- Daimler's Smart, BMW's Mini gain as Americans fret over fuel
(Bloomberg)
The automotive sector struggles meeting demand for more affordable fuel-efficient cars as gasoline climbs above US$ 4 a gallon. Meanwhile, BMW's Mini sales are up 34 percent in 2008. This year's sales of 26,400 through June put the brand on pace for another record. U.S. sales for Daimler were up 13 percent a year earlier to 22,121, including 2,545 Smart cars.
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- Germany-based mtm laboratories appoints new CEO
(Press Release)
Germany-based mtm laboratories, a privately held biotech company, announced that it has appointed Bob Silverman as its new CEO. He has been mtm’s Chief Commercial Officer and the President of the mtm U.S. subsidiary since mid 2005. Silverman is based at the U.S. subsidiary in Westborough, MS.
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- Siemens seeks buyer for Churchill operation
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
A subsidiary of the German corporation Siemens AG, Siemens Power Generation Inc. is seeking a buyer for its fuel-cell research business, which employs 131, because it doesn't fit with Siemens' long-term profitability goals, a company spokesman said.
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- German R&M ShipTec eyes Florida for U.S. headquarters
(St. Petersburg Times)
R&M ShipTec, a German company that manufactures cruise ship staterooms, is considering Hernando County, FL for its U.S. headquarters. The company plans to invest nearly $1-million in equipment. That could mean 15 jobs for the county.
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- WALA Heilmittel could increase sales 8% in U.S.
(New York Times)
Worldwide sales of WALA Heilmittel, the maker of the cosmetic products line Dr. Hauschka, have more than doubled in the last five years, to nearly $150 million. About 8 percent of that has been generated in the United States.
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- Rampf invests $1 million in U.S. production
(Press Release)
The Rampf Group, Inc., the subsidiary of the German Rampf-Gruppe is enhancing its presence in North America. The company invested approximately 1 million dollars into their production site in Wixom, MI. The current capacity is approximately 1,000 Tones per year. From now onwards, the Rampf Group, Inc. will be producing liquid materials for foam gaskets on their premises.
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- German company to build in Conroe
(The Montgomery Courier)
The Germany-based company Bauer Manufacturing Inc. will headquarter its American operations on 79 acres in Conroe, TX. The 218-year-old company, run now by the seventh generation of Bauers, has plants in seven countries and builds and customizes foundation equipment for projects such as skyscrapers, oil rigs and tunnels.
The City Council and directors with the Conroe Industrial Development Corporation approved a seven-year, performance-based $1.6 million cash incentive agreement for the company. In addition, the company will receive a 10-year property exemption of $6.5 million.
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- T-Mobile introduces T-Mobile@Home
(eFlux Media)
T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany subsidiary, announced it would start offering a new phone service called T-Mobile@Home with an unlimited calling plan. For gaining access to the T-Mobile@Home service, a T-Mobile cell phone plan is needed (for about $29.99 a month), as well as a broadband Internet service (which starts at a monthly fee of $20 and can go up to $50, depending on the user’s choice).
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- Vitakraft buys Sun Seed
(BirdChannel News)
After a business relationship of nearly 20 years, Vitakraft Pet Products - a subsidiary of Bremen-based Vitakraft Wuehrmann und Sohn - has acquired Sun Seed Co. The two businesses will be combined to form Vitakraft Sun Seed Co. and will operate from Sun Seed’s Bowling Green, OH, headquarters under a joint management team.
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- Germany-based translation company opens U.S. branch
(Global Atlanta/Agio Press)
EVS Translation Services opened its first U.S. branch in Atlanta, Edward Vick, founder and CEO of the Frankfurt based company said. EVS has offices in ten European countries and works in 83 languages. The company hires native speakers in its different branches and the Atlanta office could grow to 25 translators and staff, Vick added.
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- U.S. approves Germany's KfW unit opening NY office
(Reuters)
The U.S. Federal Reserve approved an application by an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of German state development bank KfW to open an office in New York. The approval was granted to KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, which reported $65.6 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2007. The bank engages in project and export financing activities, the Fed said.
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- DekaBank eyes $776 million U.S. property spree
(Reuters/Commercial Property News)
German asset manager DekaBank is looking to invest up to $776 million in U.S. commercial property, board member Matthias Danne Danne told the Reuters Global Real Estate Summit. While the scope of DekaBank's investments with regard to property type was not made clear, the company plans to focus on some of the country's leading office markets, including Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Seattle.
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- Audi CEO optimistic to reach U.S. 2015 sales targets
(MarketWatch)
Audi AG Chief Executive Rupert Stadler expects to double sales in the troubled U.S. market to 200,000 vehicles in 2015. He sees no major impact from the global economic slowdown in the current quarter and he is optimistic about reaching the company's ambitious long-term target, Stadler told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
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- Boehringer takes over Actimis for up to $515 mln
(Thomson Financial)
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH said it has agreed to take over U.S. company Actimis Pharmaceuticals Inc. for up to $515 million, to bolster its research into respiratory diseases. The purchase will be carried out in gradual steps and Boehringer will pay the full price and buy all of Actimis shares if its experimental asthma treatment AP768 progresses from the first phases of testing on humans to the third and final phase, the companies said in a joint statement.
The deal marks the first takeover of a biotechnology firm for Boehringer, which has remained family-owned since it was founded in 1885. It has grown to become Germany's second-largest pharmaceutical company after Bayer AG.
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- SAP to buy small U.S. manufacturing software maker
(Reuters)
SAP has agreed to buy Visiprise, a small U.S. company that makes software to help manufacturers control operations, manage compliance and improve quality. Visiprise, a partner of SAP for several years, has its headquarters in Alpharetta, GA and employs about 300 people there and at sites in California and Ukraine.
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- Solon buys a 16% stake in U.S. rival SpectraWatt
(Bloomberg)
Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, plans to spin off its solar technology business, creating a company called SpectraWatt Inc. and contributing to a $50 million investment in the venture. The company will open a plant in Oregon in the second half of 2008 that will make photovoltaic cells. Among other investors German solar-cell maker Solon invested in the company and bought about 16 percent of SpectraWatt.
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- Auto supplier to add jobs, lands tax break
(Macomb Daily)
Witzenmann USA, a family-owned company founded in Germany more than 150 years ago, will hire 31 people and install $3.4 million in machinery in their facilities in Warren, MI. The company has operated in Warren since 2001, and currently provides parts for the Big Three automakers and its largest customer, Caterpillar.
The addition of jobs and machinery convinced the Warren City Council to unanimously recommend tax abatement that will save the company 50 percent on its personal property taxes on the new equipment for the next 10 years.
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- BMW to invest more than $1 bln in the U.S.
(Thomson Financial)
BMW AG said it plans to invest more than $1 billion in its operations in the United States, including a previously announced $750 million investment at its factory in Spartanburg, SC. The company said it will spend $100 million to expands its U.S. headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. The remaining $170 million will go to the new regional parts distribution centers in Pennsylvania and Illinois, the German carmaker said in a statement.
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- Lidl plans to enter U.S. market by 2012
(Focus)
German discount retailer Lidl, who plans to open up a further 1,000 stores in Germany, wants to enter the U.S. market by 2012 the latest, Focus magazine reported, citing the company's supervisory board chairman Klaus Gehrig. "Currently, we are preparing to enter the (U.S.) market," he said.
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- Flabeg strengthens its position in the U.S. market
(PR Newswire)
Flabeg, a German company based in Nuernberg that specializes in all processes of glass refinement, has acquired 100% of the shares of the Connecticut-based glass company Naugatuck. Through this step Flabeg wants to strengthening its U.S. market position in the core business areas of Automotive Mirrors, Automotive Interior, Solar Mirrors and Technical Glass.
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- German auto supplier may expand Brighton plant
(Livingston Community News)
Eberspaecher North America, a major German-owned automotive supplier, wants to expand and retool its Brighton plant with a $50 million investment. If given final approval by the Michigan state government, the latest proposal would result in a total work force of more than 270, an increase of 70 full-time jobs.
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- RWE acquires 50% stake in Excelerate Energy
(Datamonitor)
German utility group RWE has completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in the U.S.-based liquefied natural gas company Excelerate Energy. RWE Supply & Trading, responsible for the RWE Group's liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, is buying the stake from private investor George Kaiser, who will continue to own the remaining stake.
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- Siemens Energy picks Boulder for wind R&D center
(Denver Business Journal)
Siemens Energy announced at the American Wind Energy Association annual conference in Houston that it will establish its U.S. wind research and development center in Boulder, creating 50 new green-collar jobs in Colorado.
"We are very pleased to establish our first wind turbine R&D competence center in Boulder," Randy Zwirn, head of Siemens' Energy Sector in the U.S., said in a statement. "The proximity of important institutions such as NREL and the NWTC, as well as the support received from the State of Colorado and the City of Boulder, make Boulder the perfect location."
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- Visionapp announces U.S. subsidiary
(DABCC.com)
The Frankfurt based visionapp Group, that has been active in the U.S. for years, plans to set up a subsidiary in the Sacramento, California area. The planned acquisition of iQurious Corporation, the exclusive distributor of visionapp in the United States since 2006, gives the company a stronger focus in North America and additional expertise in the industry. The new organization will do business as visionapp NA, Inc.
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- Nordex to invest $100 mln to set up U.S. plant
(Reuters)
German wind turbine maker Nordex has earmarked $100 million to set up a production site in the United States in the years ahead to meet rising demand from the region. In a first step, Nordex plans to set up a wind turbine assembly site with an annual production capacity of 750 megawatt (MW) by 2012, but has not yet chosen a location. "We are looking for a centrally located facility, with everything pointing to a location in the Midwest," said Ralf Sigrist, president of Nordex USA Inc. The first U.S.-assembled turbines are expected to hit the market next year.
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- Second German solar firm setting up in Tucson
(Arizona Daily Star)
Another German company in the solar-energy industry is making a home in Tucson. Schletter Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of solar mounting systems, has set up U.S. operations in Tucson. The company expects the facility to be fully operational in June, with up to 15 local employees by the end of 2008 and up to 40 by the end of 2009.
Schletter joins another company with German roots, Solon America Corp. - a subsidiary of Berlin-based Solon AG - which also is partial owner of Tucson-based Global Solar Energy Inc., a maker of thin-film solar photovoltaics.
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- DHL to outsource some U.S. operations to UPS
(International Herald Tribune)
DHL announced that it would be cutting at least 1,500 jobs in North America and outsourcing some flight operations to its rival, UPS. The restructuring is expected to cost $2 billion, Deutsche Post, the parent of DHL, said. Under the deal, the company will pay UPS $1 billion a year for 10 years to carry its U.S. domestic and international shipments within North America. Deutsche Post said it remained committed to serving U.S. customers, and that less than 4 percent of its shipments would be affected. It expects to save about $1 billion a year from the deal.
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- German firm acquires Coretech Holdings
(St. Louis Today)
Berkeley-based Coretech Holdings LLC, which makes instruments for medical and research labs, said it has been acquired by Leica Microsystems of Wetzlar, Germany. Coretech, a 10-year-old company with 50 employees and $15 million in annual sales, becomes Leica Biosystems St. Louis LLC. Its chief executive, Doug Martin, remains with the operation as vice president and general manager.
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- Opening of highest building in Philadelphia
(Philadelphia Business Journal)
The 51-story Comcast Center in Philadelphia which is jointly owned by CommerzLeasing und Immobilien AG, a subsidiary of Commerzbank, and Liberty Property Trust will have its grand opening on June 6, 2008.
The building cost $500 million to construct and the tenants, mostly Comcast, which is leasing about 90% of the 1.25 million square foot office complex, spent $250 million for furnishings. The Comcast Center is the highest building in Philadelphia and the tallest skyscraper between New York City and Chicago.
