Kone has agreed to acquire rival TK Elevator, which is owned by Advent International and Cinven, in a €29.4bn ($34.4bn) transaction including debt, marking one of the largest private equity exits in Europe to date, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Completion on the cash-and-stock deal is not expected until Q2 2027 at the earliest, subject to regulatory clearances across multiple jurisdictions.
Following the transaction, the combined group will be headquartered in Finland and will roughly double Kone’s scale, employing more than 100,000 people across approximately 100 countries. Pro forma annual revenues are expected to reach around €20.5bn.
The acquisition revives a long-standing interest from Kone, which previously attempted to acquire TK Elevator in 2020 alongside CVC Capital Partners, ultimately losing out to Advent and Cinven.
Strategically, the deal strengthens Kone’s position in the US maintenance market—one of the most profitable segments in the industry—while offering potential cost and operational synergies from increased scale. Currently, the Americas account for roughly a quarter of Kone’s revenues, with Europe contributing around 40%.
