The latest Siemens spin-off is moving to the capital. The energy sector, which will be independent in the future, cites the proximity to politics as the main reason. However, individual board members remain at the locations. After all, the head of the company should move to Spree next year.
The capital Berlin could soon get its third Dax group. As the technology group Siemens announced, the energy subsidiary Siemens Energy, which was released on Friday to become independent, will have its headquarters in the metropolis. The board decided that after months of discussions and reviews. "As a company, we have to actively and more intensively shape the public and political debate about the energy transition," says CEO Christian Bruch of the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". In addition to the federal capital, Munich, Erlangen and Mülheim were examined as potential company headquarters.
In the afternoon, the employees and Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller were informed. Bruch said there will only be a very small seat with a slender staff. Central functions would be distributed to different locations, as would the board members. The CEO wants to move to Berlin by early 2021 at the latest. It is estimated that the group management will only have 150 employees.
Siemens Energy will be spun off from the Siemens Group tomorrow, Friday, and will be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the first time at the beginning of the new week. It is the largest spin-off of a corporate division that has ever occurred in Germany. With a market value of more than 20 billion euros and a high free float of 55 percent, the newcomer could move up to the Dax in September 2021, writes the newspaper. After Deutsche Wohnen and Delivery Hero, Berlin would get another group from the top stock exchange league.
Rapid success in profitability
According to Bruch, the timetable for phasing out coal energy, which Siemens boss Joe Kaeser has called for, is to be drawn up this year. "The question is not whether we will get out of the coal, but when and how." Siemens has been in the crossfire of environmental activists since the end of last year, not least because of a controversial coal project in Australia. Bruch also promised to report "first successes" quickly on the subject of profitability. The company is active in a wide variety of areas, from wind power and power transmission to turbines for gas and coal-fired power plants.
Siemens is thus expanding its commitment in the capital and thus also at the place where the company was founded. In the coming years, the Dax group wants to build a large innovation campus. Siemens announced at the time that it would invest "up to 600 million euros in a new working and living environment". It is the largest single investment in the history of Siemens in Berlin.
The campus will be built on a historic industrial site in Siemensstadt in Berlin-Spandau on an area of 700,000 square meters by 2030. Research institutions, specialist and start-up centers as well as start-up companies are to be located there, but apartments are also to be built.
Update: The first version mentioned the formal company headquarters moving to Berlin. The company has specified the relevant report. The administrative seat remains in Munich.
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