Corona crisis endangers Siemens Energy spinoff – report

Siemens might have to delay the spin-off of its subsidiary Siemens Energy due to the corona crisis, reports Bernd Ziesemer in Capital magazine. Officially, the engineering conglomerate is sticking to the timetable for the spin-off of its power plant and wind turbine division in September but, according to the report, supervisory board members warn of the risks of a "jolt strategy at any price." The IPO requires shareholder approval, but the annual shareholders' meeting planned on 9 July is unlikely to happen in a conventional form because of the pandemic. Sources close to the supervisory board told the magazine the possibility of a virtual shareholder meeting created significant legal risks. They also warned that profits in the power plant division, which were already small before the pandemic, have now collapsed, undermining Siemens Energy's "stock market story."

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, who will become the head of Siemens Energy's supervisory board, said in February he is ready for the company to be at the centre of the global debate on climate change. Siemens came under fire from environmentalists earlier this year for its participation in the controversial Adani coal mine project in Australia at a time when the southern continent had been ravaged by unprecedented wildfires.