hallo nok,
vielen dank für die info. ich denke aber das ist ne andere klöckner.
zu klöckner- werke möchte ich noch sagen sicher interessant, aber ich traue dem grossaktionär wcm nicht über den weg. hier noch ein alter artikel zum thema.
09 SEP 2002 12:07 UPDATE 1-WCM <WCMG.DE> in talks with potential bidders
(Adds detail, share price, background)
By Andreas Funke
FRANKFURT, Sept 9 (Reuters) - WCM AG <WCMG.DE>, the German
investment and real estate firm, could be sold to an investor as
its main shareholder prepares to sell a major part of his stake
to pay off debt, WCM's chief executive told Reuters on Monday.
"There are contacts, we are in talks with interested
parties," WCM Chief Executive Roland Flach told Reuters in an
interview. "It is up to the shareholders if they want to sell
and it is up to the investors if they want to buy."
WCM shares rose as much as 5.3 percent and were up 2.64
percent at 3.11 euros at 1205 GMT, outperforming a 0.8 percent
weaker mid-cap index MDAX <.MDAXI>.
Frankfurt-based WCM is controlled by heavily indebted former
billionaire Karl Ehlerding, 60, and his family who is looking
for a strategic investor for more than half of his 46 percent in
the firm to pay off debt.
WCM, which has a history of investing in engineering firms
and generating value by breaking them up, last month posted a
second-quarter loss and said it did not expect to reach its 2002
profit target as the value of its investments has been
undermined by the capital markets' slump.
Flach has said a full-year loss could not be ruled out,,
adding that WCM would in future focus on its property operations
rather than its investment business. The firm has a total of
55,000 flats, worth some 3.5 billion euros.
Its investment portfolio includes a six percent stake in
Germany's third-biggest listed bank Commerzbank AG <CBKG.DE>
worth around 324 million euros as well as in engineering company
Kloeckner-Werke AG <KLKG.F> and a number of small firms.
According to Reuters data, WCM is valued at around 875
million euros ($859 million).
Speaking to Reuters in an interview last month, Ehlerding
said he was confident he would soon reach an agreement with his
creditor banks which would give him time to look for a strategic
investor for the German firm.
WCM stock has lost 70 percent of its value this year, partly
on speculation that Ehlerding would sell stock on the open
market and partly because one of his creditor banks sold WCM
shares held as collateral for a loan.
Ehlerding, one of Germany's most high-profile victims of the
rout in global equity markets, has a complex network of
investments whose value has slumped from several billion euros,
leaving him vulnerable to creditors.
The Hamburg-based investor, a well-known corporate raider,
owes several banks a total of 500 million euros.
((Frankfurt Newsroom +49 69 7565 1267,
frankfurt.newsroom@reuters.com))
($1=1.019 Euro)