Thyssenkrupp will still seek partners for its steel operations after abandoning a European merger with India’s Tata Steel, Chief Executive Guido Kerkhoff said.
Kerkhoff ditched a restructuring plan recently, in which the merger was a key part, and resolved instead to transform the steel-to-submarines group into a holding company and list its profitable elevators business.
Thyssenkrupp abandoned its long-planned merger of its steel business with the European operations of Tata Steel, which would have created the region’s No.2 producer after ArcelorMittal, due to opposition from European Union regulators.
Thyssenkrupp, which has warned it would report negative cash flow this year, is seeking a financial shot in the arm from the partial float of its elevators division.
Activist investors have been clamoring for Thyssenkrupp to monetize its elevators business, which analysts estimate could be worth as much as €14 B (USD15.7 B), twice the market capitalization of the parent company.
