Voith to switch corporate legal status into a KGaA

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Unlisted German mechanical engineering group Voith [VOITH.UL] on Monday said it plans to change its legal status into a KGaA, or a partnership limited by shares, as a way to give it greater flexibility to pursue growth options. Voith's management has recommended that the family controlled company switch its corporate legal status from Voith GmbH, into Voith GmbH & Co KGaA in July 2017, the Heidenheim, Germany-based engineering giant said. "The step is designed to increase Voith's room for manoeuvre in the next couple of years and to support the company's growth strategy as part of a digital transformation," Voith said in a press release on Monday. The KGaA legal form makes Voith into a stock corporation controlled by individually liable shareholders. Despite the proposed change to its legal form, Voith has no plans to seek a stock market listing, a source at the company said. Founded in 1867, Voith today has around 19,000 employees, sales of 4.3 billion euros (3.60 billion pounds) and locations in more than 60 countries worldwide. (Reporting by Edward Taylor and Ilona Wissenbach; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)