In partnership with the Z-13 Fishermen Community, Sindieco and the Pares Institute, the "Our Lagoon is for Fish" Project is looking to contribute to environmental education and the recuperation of the lagoon, as well as generating income for the local community.
With the conclusion of the acceptance period of the voluntary public takeover offer, Siemens has secured 80.69 percent of IBS shares, thereby exceeding the minimum takeover threshold of 75 percent. All additional conditions for completion of the takeover offer, including antitrust approvals, have also been fulfilled. Therefore, the takeover of IBS AG can be implemented as planned.
This year, Siemens researchers won the German Future Prize (Deutscher Zukunftspreis) for the fourth time – more than any other company. This prize is awarded by the German President and is Germany's highest honor for technology and innovation. A research team led by Dr. Torsten Niederdränk in collaboration with the University of Oldenburg developed a so-called binaural hearing system that enables hearing aids in both ears to communicate. This represents an important evolutionary step toward spatial hearing and an improvement in the quality of life of those with hearing loss. German President Joachim Gauck awarded the German Future Prize in Berlin on the evening of November 28, 2012. The €250,000 prize was previously awarded to Siemens employees in 2004, 2005, and 2007 for developments in biochips, piezo technology, and light-emitting diodes.
Siemens plans a focused expansion of its industry software portfolio and intends to make a voluntary public takeover offer to the shareholders of IBS Aktiengesellschaft excellence, collaboration, manufacturing (WKN 622840) ("IBS AG") to acquire all shares in IBS AG. IBS shareholders are to receive EUR 6.10 per share in cash. This corresponds to a premium of approx. 33 percent compared to today's closing share price for IBS AG (XETRA). Through the acquisition of IBS AG, a supplier of software solutions for industrial quality and production management, Siemens complements its offering of industrial automation solutions. The management board of IBS AG welcomes the offer from Siemens in principle.
- First half of building project successfully completed
- Demolition work concluded, new construction beginning on schedule
- Building to meet highest sustainability standards
Together with Munich Mayor Christian Ude, Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher has laid the foundation stone for the company's new headquarters building, which will be completed on Wittelsbacherplatz in Munich by the end of 2015. The future inner-city complex will provide employees with a 21st-century working environment and be freely accessible to the general public at ground level. Siemens has set the highest standards for sustainability for its new headquarters, and will fulfill the criteria for minimum energy consumptions in buildings.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited Siemens' training center in Berlin. In a tour of the facility with Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher, she talked to trainees and participants in work-study programs about their daily work and routines. Afterwards, Merkel and Löscher discussed the challenges of preparing young people for their future careers with a trainee, a vocational school teacher and the representative of a company in Berlin that provides vocational training. Against the backdrop of high youth unemployment particularly in southern European countries, the advantages of Germany's work-study system and its possible use as a model in other countries were also discussed. "Knowledge is the backbone of our competitiveness," said Löscher. "That's why the training of young people is a joint leadership responsibility – for us as a company, for governments and for educational institutions."
Flooded in green light for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Mountain is now a beacon of sustainability, visible for miles around. Three-hundred high-efficiency cutting-edge LED projectors from Siemens' Osram subsidiary are illuminating the conference symbol, which is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. To mark the world-famous statue's 80th anniversary in 2011, Osram equipped the monument with state-of-the-art lighting technology. The new LED system is reducing the energy needed to light the nearly 40-meter landmark by more than 75 percent. Solutions that combine high-efficiency lighting products with light management systems can yield energy savings of up to 80 percent. Artificial lighting accounts for some 20 percent of world electricity consumption. All around the United Nations conference, a large number of Siemens projects are demonstrating how technologies already available today can make humanity's further development both sustainable and energy-efficient.
Given the favorable capital market conditions Siemens AG will optimize its capital structure and intends to buy back shares in the amount of up to Euro 3 billion. The company also plans to cancel approximately 33 million treasury shares. The share buy back is planned to be financed mostly by long term debt. "The current debt markets environment for Siemens in combination with its current valuation of its shares offers a unique opportunity for value creation in the long-term. We will take advantage of this environment and execute on our "One Siemens" targets", said Siemens Chief Financial Officer, Joe Kaeser.