The tire manufacturer and automotive supplier Continental wants to divest itself of its weakening automotive supply division. The automotive division, which includes electronics, brakes and interior equipment, among other things, is to be sold on the stock exchange via a so-called pure spin-off, as the Conti board headed by boss Nikolai Setzer (53) decided.
There will also be savings in research and development – a total of 7,150 jobs will be lost. This should bring the division safely back into the profit zone so that it can stand on its own two feet and become attractive to investors.
In the case of a pure spin-off, the shareholders simply receive new shares of the part to be spun off into their portfolio and can then decide whether they want to stay with it or sell shares. The Conti Group does not receive any money through such a procedure.
Years ago, Conti had outsourced the drivetrain business to the company Vitesco and also brought it to the stock exchange via a spin-off. The Regensburg-based company has now slipped under the umbrella of the automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler.
A “slim holding structure” is to be created by the end of 2025
At the end of September, there were just under 195,000 employees in the Conti Group, and almost 96,400 were still employed in the automotive supply division. The division is the largest in the Dax group, but the lucrative tire business generates the lion’s share of profits.
The management board plans are to be presented to the supervisory board in March 2025, and a general meeting must then give final approval on April 25th. “A lean, focused holding structure should be created by the end of 2025,” said Conti boss Setzer.