Essen is seat to several large companies, among them the ThyssenKrupp industrial conglomerate which is also registered in Duisburg and originates from a 1999 merger between Duisburg-based Thyssen AG and Essen-based Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp. The largest company registered only in Essen is Germany's second-largest electric utility RWE AG. Essen also hosts parts of the corporate headquarters of Schenker AG, the logistics division of Deutsche Bahn. Other major companies include Germany's largest construction company Hochtief AG, as well as Aldi Nord, Evonik Industries, Arcandor AG, Medion AG and Deichmann, Europe's largest shoe retailer. With Eon-Ruhrgas, Germany's largest gas company also has its seat in Essen. The Coca-Cola Company had also originally established their German headquarters in Essen (around 1930), where it remained until 2003, when it was moved to the capital Berlin.
The city's fair grounds, Messe Essen, host some 50 trade fairs each year. With around 530.000 visitors each year, Essen Motor Show, the top international car tuning fair, is by far the largest event held there. Other important fairs open to the consumers include SPIEL, the world's biggest consumer fair for gaming and also occasion of the presentation of the Essen Feather and of the Deutscher Spiele Preis, Techno-Classica (vintage cars) and one of the leading fairs for equestrian sports, Equitana, held every two years. Important fairs restricted to professionals include Security (security and fire protection), IPM (gardening) and E-World (energy and water).
The Westdeutscher Rundfunk has a studio in Essen, which is responsible for the central Ruhr area. Each day, it produces a 30-minute regional evening news magazine (called Lokalzeit Ruhr), a 5-minute afternoon news programme, and several radio news programmes. A local broadcasting station went "on-the-air" in the late 1990s. The WAZ Media Group is one of the most important (print) media companies in Europe and
