German firm to sell Giddings & Lewis

German company ThyssenKrupp AG is seeking to sell its metal-cutting business, including Giddings & Lewis, to privately held Maxcor Inc. of New York, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Monday. The purchase price was not disclosed, but ThyssenKrupp said it would take a loss on the sale. ThyssenKrupp said it was focusing on growth in other areas, including its business serving the automotive industries and its elevator manufacturing business. Giddings employs approximately 400 people in Fond du Lac, Wis. In 1998, ThyssenKrupp, then known as Thyssen AG, bought Giddings for $675 million and became the world's largest supplier of machine tools.