Germany's largest steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp, on Wednesday completed negotiations with Liberty Steel on a possible acquisition of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, noting that the sale of the German steel business to the British company Liberty Steel will not take place.
“We opened the door for negotiations, but in the end our ideas about the value of the company and the structure of the deal were very different. Therefore, we decided to end the negotiations. We regret this because we viewed Liberty Steel as a serious prospect. "- stated Dr. Klaus Keisberg.
Three weeks ago, Liberty Steel presented ThyssenKrupp with an updated, optional offer to acquire the assets of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe. The company has carefully studied this offer from Liberty. Thyssenkrupp and Liberty Steel had a close exchange of views on a number of difficult issues. As a result, however, it was not possible to find a common solution for the basic requirements of ThyssenKrupp, the German concern said in a statement.
ThyssenKrupp said it will now develop its steel division on its own.
Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe for the first time in many months showed good profit and the group decided to continue the reconstruction and modernization of steel plants in Germany at an accelerated pace.
The group's steel division, which is supposedly being sold but can now be spun off and retained as part of the group, posted an adjusted operating profit of € 20 million ($ 24 million) in the first quarter, compared with a 127 million loss in the same period last year.
