Siemens, Germany's largest engineering and electronics group, plans to sell businesses worth 17 billion deutschmarks (£6.8 billion), including all its loss-making semi-conductor activities, in one of the biggest restructuring operations in recent German corporate history. The businesses being shed employ 60,000.

The plan marks an attempt by Mr Heinrich von Pierer, chief executive, to quell growing investor unrest after faltering profits and a share price that has starkly under-performed those of other big German companies. Its announcement sent shock waves through financial markets yesterday, triggering a 12.3 per cent rise in Siemens shares.