Kone’s takeover of TKE is Finland’s biggest acquisition ever – Copyright Lehtikuva/AFP Emmi Korhonen
Finnish elevator maker Kone announced on Wednesday the acquisition of its German rival TKE in a major stock and cash deal that values TKE at 29.4 billion euros ($34.4 billion) to create a global giant.
The group formed by the merger will be nearly twice the size of the current Kone group, with more than 100,000 employees in over 100 countries and annual revenues of around 20.5 billion euros, the two companies said in a statement.
TKE, or TK Elevator, was spun off from Germany’s Thyssenkrupp to become an independent company in 2020 and is owned by a consortium including private equity groups Advent and Cinven.
The elevator market is driven by urbanization and a growing service sector, as demand increases in countries with elderly populations too frail to use stairs, according to experts.
The deal announced Wednesday is one of Europe’s largest acquisitions involving private equity groups, according to Bloomberg, and the largest corporate takeover ever made in Finland, Finnish media said.
The new group will be based in Finland and will be led by Kone’s current French chief executive, Philippe Delorme.
Kone chairman Antti Herlin, listed by Forbes as Finland’s richest man, will remain chairman of the new group.
Founded at the beginning of the 20th century, Kone has been controlled for about a hundred years by the Herlin family.
“This industry-reinvigorating transaction brings together two outstanding global businesses with highly complementary geographic footprints and innovative platforms,” the joint statement said.
“Kone’s presence in Asia is complemented by TKE’s footprint in the Americas, and TKE opens up new geographies for Kone, resulting in a well-balanced global presence.”
The German group generates 45 percent of its revenue in the United States.
The consortium that owns TKE will receive five billion euros and 270 million shares in the new Konen, worth 15.2 billion euros, and will hold 33.8 percent of the new entity, according to the statement.
– ‘Speed up switching’-
Both groups said they expect annual synergies of 700 million euros from the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2027.
The merger will “accelerate our strategic shift toward service and modernization, while strengthening our sustainability,” Delorme said in the statement.
Services and modernization will account for around 65 percent of the new group’s annual sales.
Investors welcomed the deal, with Kone shares gaining 2.4 percent to 57.66 euros on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in midday trading.
“The industrial logic of this transaction is very strong. Of course, this deal still involves risks related to regulatory authorities and integration,” analyst Aapeli Pursimo of Finnish stock market advisory firm Inderes said in a note.
In the European market in particular, overlaps could require the new group to divest, he said, while competitors such as Schindler could voice criticism.
Pursimo meanwhile welcomed “the fact that the current management of Kone, led by Philippe Delorme and (chief financial officer) Ilkka Hara, will continue at the helm of the combined company, which will bring continuity to the implementation of the integration”.
Philippe Delorme, born in 1971, became CEO of the Finnish group in January 2024 after more than 25 years at the French industrial group Schneider Electric.
In 2025, Kone recorded sales of 11.2 billion euros, compared to 9.2 billion for the German group.
