Thyssenkrupp, Tata offer selling ‘assets’

Bloomberg

Thyssenkrupp AG and Tata Steel Ltd have offered to sell assets in Belgium, Spain and the UK to win antitrust approval for a European steel joint venture, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The two companies proposed divesting two automotive steel plants in Spain and Belgium to meet demands by European regulators, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the offer isn’t public.
The companies may also sell a UK steel operation, but plan to keep the main Port Talbot mill, the person said.
The two companies are working to ease concerns flagged by European regulators that the combination of their European steel operations would have too much control over market supply and prices.
The European Commission is expected to review the proposal and make a decision by June 5. “As we see it, our proposals cover all the concerns expressed by the Commission,” Thyssenkrupp CEO Guido Kerkhoff said.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reported details about the asset sales. Asset sales outside of Germany may satisfy demands by Thyssenkrupp’s labour leaders that the joint venture won’t cause job losses in Germany. Union representatives at the company control half of all votes on the supervisory board and would fiercely oppose concessions that cut German steelworkers. The plan to create a European steel company jointly owned by Germany’s Thyssenkrupp and India’s Tata “raised several issues,” the EU said last year.