Shareholders approve share issuance; deal advances through multi-jurisdiction antitrust review
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Finland's Kone agreed in April 2026 to buy Germany's TK Elevator for €29.4 billion. The deal pairs €5 billion in cash with 270 million new Kone shares, which would create a company with 3.2 million units under maintenance and roughly €20.5 billion in combined annual revenue. Shareholders approved the share issuance on June 3, clearing the first major internal hurdle.
The deal's fate now rests with antitrust regulators across the EU, US, and China. Swiss rival Schindler has pledged to challenge it in every jurisdiction; its CEO told Reuters in July 2026 that the review period is also a chance to win customers, hire staff, and bid on any assets Kone is forced to divest. No formal filing has been submitted to the European Commission yet. Closing remains targeted for Q2 2027.
Why it matters
If approved, a single company would service roughly a third of the world's elevators—shaping maintenance costs, modernization timelines, and safety standards in buildings worldwide.
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Kone strikes $34 billion deal to buy TKE and create world's largest lift maker | Reuters
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Elevators by TKE | TK Elevator
Kone Acquires TK Elevator for $34.4B - Industry Game Changer
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"How fitting that the company which spent six years circling back to buy what it couldn't have the first time now faces regulators who may deny it again — one does admire an industry so thoroughly dedicated to going up and coming down, and getting nowhere at all."
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Finnish elevator and escalator maker, one of the world's four dominant manufacturers, controlled by the Herlin family since 1924.
Germany-based elevator manufacturer carved out of Thyssenkrupp in 2020, the world's third- or fourth-largest by service portfolio.
Boston-based private equity firm that co-led the 2020 take-private of TK Elevator and is now selling at a substantial premium.
London-based European private equity firm; co-owned TK Elevator with Advent since 2020.
Swiss elevator manufacturer, the third member of the industry's 'Big Four' and the most direct loser if Kone-TK closes.
EU executive body whose competition arm will determine whether the deal can proceed in its current form.
February 2020 June 2027
Q2 2027 closing is contingent on antitrust clearances in the EU, US, China, and other jurisdictions.
Kone reported Q2 orders of €2.56 billion, up 10.9% at comparable rates, with modernization growth above 15% and adjusted EBIT margin up 40 basis points. Management said regulatory reviews are advancing as planned and reiterated the €700 million synergy target.
Schindler CEO Paolo Compagna told Reuters the review period offers opportunities to attract customers and staff from the merging companies, and that Schindler could bid on any assets regulators require Kone to divest.
Kone's Extraordinary General Meeting authorized up to 270 million new Class B shares for the deal, expanded the board to ten members, and elected Ranjan Sen (Advent) and Bruno Schick (Cinven) as new directors, conditional on deal closing.
Kone shareholders are scheduled to vote on the share issuance needed to fund the deal; Herlin family backing makes approval likely.
Kone announces a binding cash-and-stock agreement that would create the world's largest elevator company, with about 3.2 million units under maintenance.
Swiss rival Schindler indicates it will raise objections to European competition authorities, citing market concentration concerns.
Kone stock declined roughly 3.3% (from €56.30 to ~€54.46) as investors focused on dilution from 270 million new shares and a deal price analysts described as higher than expected. Shares of Thyssenkrupp—TK Elevator's former parent—surged as much as 14%, closing up about 8%, reflecting the market's read on the deal's implications for the German industrial sector.
Kone reported first-quarter 2026 sales of €2.71 billion (up 1.3%), adjusted operating income margin of 10.8%, and cash flow from operations of €500 million, and maintained its full-year guidance of 3–6% sales growth and a 12.3–13.0% adjusted operating margin.
Sale closes. The unit is renamed TK Elevator and operates independently of Thyssenkrupp under PE ownership.
Cash-strapped Thyssenkrupp agrees to sell its elevator division to an Advent-Cinven consortium for €17.2 billion, choosing PE certainty over Kone's bid.
3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
Kone bid for Thyssenkrupp's elevator unit alongside CVC Capital Partners as German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp scrambled for cash. Despite a competitive offer, Thyssenkrupp's board chose the all-cash €17.2 billion bid from Advent and Cinven, citing greater antitrust certainty.
TK Elevator became a private equity-owned standalone company in August 2020. Kone returned cash to shareholders and refocused on organic growth.
The decision delivered Advent and Cinven a six-year holding period and a substantial profit on exit. It also delayed industry consolidation that Kone's chairman has clearly pursued for years.
The 2020 loss is the direct setup for today's deal: Kone is back, paying considerably more, for the same business it could not buy six years ago.
The Commission blocked the proposed merger of Siemens' and Alstom's rail businesses, despite the companies offering substantial divestitures. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager concluded the remedies were insufficient to prevent a dominant European rail-signaling and high-speed-train provider.
Both companies abandoned the deal. France and Germany publicly criticized the Commission and called for revising EU merger rules to permit 'European champions.'
The decision became the standard reference for how EU regulators weigh industrial consolidation in concentrated markets, even when companies argue global competition (e.g., Chinese rivals) justifies the merger.
Schindler and other deal opponents will cite Siemens-Alstom as proof that the Commission can and does block large European industrial mergers when concentration concerns outweigh global-competitiveness arguments.
Swiss Holcim and French Lafarge announced a merger of equals to create the world's largest cement company. The European Commission approved the deal after the companies divested assets generating roughly €5 billion in annual revenue across more than a dozen countries.
The combined LafargeHolcim closed in July 2015. The divested assets were sold to Ireland's CRH for €6.5 billion.
The deal showed that even highly concentrated European industries can consolidate if companies accept large remedies upfront. It became a template for negotiated antitrust clearance.
If the Kone deal closes, it will likely follow this pattern: substantial divestitures negotiated before the Commission's final decision, with a third-party buyer ready to absorb shed assets.
