ThyssenKrupp considers selling steel business


German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp said on May 12 that the net loss in the second fiscal quarter ended at the end of March increased more than four times year-on-year to 948 million euros (about 1.02 billion US dollars), the main reason for the loss was the new crown epidemic. All business lines from steel to submarines have caused shocks.

In addition, the group expects that the third-quarter loss may further expand to 1 billion euros.

ThyssenKrupp:

ThyssenKrupp was formed by the merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp AG in March 1999. The product range involves steel, automotive technology, machine manufacturing, engineering design, elevators, and trade.

Its subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Elevator Group is one of the world's top three elevator and escalator manufacturers. In February of this year, in order to save the declining performance, ThyssenKrupp decided to sell its elevator business to the joint consortium of Advent and Cinven for 17.2 billion euros.

According to reports, the current board of directors centered on CEO Martina Merz now hopes to find investors for the ThyssenKrupp Steel division.

The German media learned from within the group and the industry that the management of ThyssenKrupp Group is currently negotiating the sale of the steel sector with representatives of other steel producers. Interested investors include Baosteel of China, SSAB (Swedish Steel AB) of Sweden and Tata ’s European branches in India. ThyssenKrupp had previously hoped to merge with Tata Steel ’s European branch, but was met veto. According to insiders, ThyssenKrupp still has not given up its plans to merge with Tata Steel ’s European division. The group has always believed that the European steel industry needs to be consolidated.

The union IG Metall is very concerned about the negotiation status of ThyssenKrupp's steel department and discussed it. Like the internal management committee of the company, the union is very worried that the steel sector will be sold cheaply abroad. A person familiar with the situation revealed that both Baosteel and SSAB hope to acquire a majority stake, and Tata Steel should have the same idea.

On the other hand, IG Metall prefers the merger of ThyssenKrupp Steel, the Saarhütten Association (professional and employers association of the German steel industry in Saarland), and Salzgitter. Earlier news came out that the ThyssenKrupp Steel division would merge with its competitor Salzgitter, but it was denied by both parties. As of now, the ThyssenKrupp Group has not made a final decision.


2019-08-22