PIF-backed elevator company explores US IPO

Sales of €9.3bn in 2023

Saudi Arabia’s PIF owns 15%

A German elevator company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is exploring selling shares to the public in the US, Reuters has reported, without citing sources.

Düsseldorf-based TK Elevator is expected to be valued at more than €20 billion ($22.7 billion), according to earnings calculations by the news agency.

TK Elevator is the world’s fourth-largest elevator maker by sales, with sales of €9.3 billion in for its 2023-24 financial year. The German tax year begins on January 1.

Alat, a technology-focused subsidiary of PIF launched last year, bought 15 percent of TK Elevator in February. 

TK Elevator expects to conclude preparations for an initial public offering in the second half of year, with a view to listing in 2026, Reuters said.

The US accounts for 35 percent of TK Elevator’s group sales.

Along with its investment in TK Elevator, Alat said this year that it and TK Elevator would set up a $160 million joint venture to manufacture lifts and escalators in Saudi Arabia.

TK Elevator is an offshoot of Thyssenkrupp, which sold its elevator and elevator technology business in 2020 to a group of companies for about €17 billion.

Market research firm Research & Markets predicts that the global elevator and escalator market will be worth more than $160 billion by 2028.

Alat was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in February 2024. 

The Saudi government said it intends for Alat to generate 39,000 jobs in the kingdom and make a contribution of more than $9 billion to the kingdom’s gross domestic product by 2030.

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