Kone agrees to acquire rival TK Elevator in a $34.4 billion deal that will reshape the global elevator and escalator industry

Finnish engineering group Kone has agreed to acquire TK Elevator — the elevator business formerly owned by ThyssenKrupp and subsequently held by a private equity consortium — in a transaction valued at $34.4 billion. The deal would be one of the largest industrial technology acquisitions in recent European history and would combine the world's second and third-largest elevator manufacturers. TK Elevator was carved out from German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp in 2020 and sold to a consortium led by private equity firm Advent International, along with Cinven and the RAG foundation. Kone's acquisition of the business would therefore represent a major PE exit as well as a transformative sector consolidation. The combined group would control a significant share of the global market for elevators, escalators, and building mobility systems — a sector with high recurring revenue from service and maintenance contracts. The transaction will face scrutiny from competition regulators across multiple jurisdictions, including the European Commission, given the combined entity's European market position. No legal advisers are named in the available sources.

Sign up to read →