Siemens VDO Will Take 'Necessary Step' Toward IPO

Siemens VDO Will Take ‘Necessary Step’ Toward IPO

Siemens VDO will be carved out of parent corporation Siemens AG in May in a "necessary step" toward an initial public offering of the automotive unit, a VDO spokesman said. Siemens VDO Automotive Group will be re-established as Siemens VDO Automotive AG, which will operate as a stand-alone corporation but remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG in Munich, spokesman David Ladd said. Typically, such a move means a corporation will operate on its own without using resources from its parent company.

From Automotive News via MEMA Industry News

Siemens VDO will be carved out of parent corporation Siemens AG in May in a "necessary step" toward an initial public offering of the automotive unit, a VDO spokesman said.

Siemens VDO Automotive Group will be re-established as Siemens VDO Automotive AG, which will operate as a stand-alone corporation but remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG in Munich, spokesman David Ladd said. Typically, such a move means a corporation will operate on its own without using resources from its parent company.

Both the name and territory are familiar to VDO, which operated as a stand-alone corporation from its creation in 2001 until being formally integrated into Siemens AG just over a year ago.

Ladd said the change will not impact day-to-day operations at VDO, which operates its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI, or alter its organizational structure.

"Most people won’t even know anything happened if they didn’t read the memo," Ladd said.

In January, Siemens AG announced plans to sell between 25 and 49 percent of VDO on a public stock exchange. It has continued to prepare for an IPO, despite buyout interest from competitors TRW Automotive Holdings Inc. and Continental AG.

Ladd said Siemens AG’s carving out of VDO does not represent the start of the IPO.

"It’s just a necessary step in that direction," he said. "As for the start of the IPO, there’s no date set for that. It’s just by the end of the (fiscal) year or the beginning of the next one."

Siemens’ fiscal year begins Oct. 1.