German Continental AG mulls corporate restructuring: report

BERLIN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The German tire manufacturer and automotive supplier Continental AG is considering an overhaul of its corporate structure, business publication "Manager Magazine" reported Thursday.

Continental is inclined towards splitting its operations into three distinct units under a framework dubbed "new conti". The former two groups would then become candidates for initial public offerings (IPO) in light of buoyant global stock markets.

By contrast, the third group is to remain in private hands for the foreseeable future and will include a focus on new technologies including autonomously-driving vehicles.

Continental chairman Wolfgang Reitzle is keen on creating "new conti" by the end of 2018. Continental refused to comment on the report on Thursday and noted that splitting up the firm was only one of several possibilities under consideration by its management.

Different scenarios were being modeled "with the goal to make our organization even more flexible with regards to challenges faced by the automotive industry", a statement by the Hanover-based firm read.

Continental achieved record revenue of 44 billion euros (53.9 billion U.S. dollars) and a record operative return of 10.8 percent during the past fiscal year. The firm employed around 220,000 people in 53 countries in 2017. Enditem