EU measures bolster Thyssenkrupp in steel sale talks with Jindal, CEO says

By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff

FRANKFURT, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Planned EU measures to protect the bloc’s beaten steel sector have boosted investor sentiment and strengthened Thyssenkrupp’s position in talks to sell its steel division to India’s Jindal Steel International, its CEO said on Thursday.

Jindal Steel International made a non-binding bid for Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE), Europe’s No. 2 steelmaker, in September, creating a way for the storied German firm to finally part with a volatile business it has sought to sell for years.

A solution for TKSE, which is closely tied to Germany’s industrial history, is seen as the centrepiece of Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez’s strategy to turn the sprawling group into a holding.

Lopez said that market sentiment on steel companies had markedly improved over the past four months. That was mostly due to EU proposals to cut import quotas by almost half and raise out-of-quota tariffs to 50% from 25%, changes aimed at protecting European steelmakers against cheap Asian imports.

“There is a clear positive sentiment here,” Lopez told analysts after presenting first-quarter results on Thursday, adding this would be part of the “conversations with our colleagues from Jindal, no doubt about that”.

Lopez said Thyssenkrupp remained in constructive and intense talks with Jindal Steel over a majority sale of TKSE following the start of due diligence in October.

Thyssenkrupp CFO Axel Hamann signalled there would not be any immediate breakthrough in discussions, saying “there is still a lot to be discussed and negotiated”.

The comments came as Thyssenkrupp unveiled 401 million euros ($477 million) in expenses to fund job cuts at TKSE, causing a wider-than-expected first-quarter net loss of 353 million euros.

Efforts to streamline have already seen Thyssenkrupp divest and list its electrolyser and warship divisions, lifting Thyssenkrupp’s stock price despite a tough macroeconomic environment.

($1 = 0.8411 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff, editing by Jane Merriman, Ludwig Burger and Thomas Seythal)