BERLIN (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp (DE:TKAG) CEO Martina Merz plans to take all the major decisions required to revive the ailing engineering group during a planned one-year tenure, the manager was quoted as saying by German weekly Die Zeit on Wednesday.
The steel-to-submarines company needs to raise cash by selling all or part of its elevator business, the world's fourth-largest industry player and by far the company's most profitable asset.
"My secondment to the management board is scheduled for one year," Merz said. "By then, all the essential decisions for the turnaround will have been made."
Merz, who served as Thyssenkrupp chairwoman before she was appointed CEO last year for 12 months as an emergency measure, has scrapped the group's dividend and has asked investors for patience while she decides on other necessary steps.
People close to the matter this week said the company had short-listed three private equity consortia in the auction of its 15 billion euro ($16.6 billion) elevator unit.