Wednesday 17th February 2021
Not a deal with Liberty Steel
Thyssenkrupp blows sale of steel business
For months the former industrial giant Thyssenkrupp negotiated with the competitor Liberty Steel about the sale of the steel division. But both sides do not come together. Now the Essenes end the talks and want to polish up the division themselves.
Thyssenkrupp's steel business will not be sold to Liberty Steel. As the group announced, talks with Liberty Steel about a possible acquisition of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe have ended. "We opened the door for negotiations, but in the end our ideas about the company value and the structure of the transaction were far apart," said CFO Klaus Keysberg. "We have therefore decided to end the talks. We regret that, because we perceived Liberty Steel as a serious prospect."
Now it is important to secure the future viability of the steel business on our own. This is being worked on at full speed. In mid-October, Liberty submitted a non-binding offer for Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. Thyssenkrupp had announced that it would also examine a spin-off and continued operation on its own.
For years, the industry has suffered from overcapacity, cheap imports from the Far East and increasingly stringent climate protection requirements. Heavy industry came under even greater pressure due to the corona crisis. In the past few months, however, the situation has recovered somewhat. Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe benefited from the increased demand, especially from the automotive industry and higher steel prices.
The negotiations have made slow progress recently. Thyssenkrupp boss Martina Merz emphasized at the general meeting at the beginning of the month that there are still various points that need to be clarified. Shortly afterwards Keysberg made it clear that Thyssenkrupp would not co-finance a takeover of the steel business. And then it was Chief Steel Officer Bernhard Osburg who said they were ready for consolidation, but the concept had to fit. Together, the two steel mills would have forged the second largest industry giant in Europe behind ArcelorMittal Europe.
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