Emirates Steel Arkan interested in ThyssenKrupp’s steel division

Emirates Steel Arkan, the UAE’s largest steel and building materials company, is considering a potential investment in the steel business of German industrial group ThyssenKrupp and may make an offer in the coming months. Bloomberg informs about it with the reference to sources with knowledge of the matter.

One option is for Emirates Steel Arkan to acquire a minority stake in ThyssenKrupp Steel as part of a business partnership. The company will produce steel in the UAE using renewable energy sources. It will then be sent to Germany, where Thyssenkrupp will process it into finished products for the automotive industry.

In addition, according to insiders, in recent months, Indian JSW Steel and Luxembourg-based investment consultancy CVC Capital Partners have shown interest in the steel division of the German group. However, negotiations with these applicants are not so active now.

Negotiations will not begin until the newly appointed CEO of ThyssenKrupp, Miguel Angel López Borrego, takes office (June 1, 2023). Before him, as well as before the predecessor in this position Martina Merz, the task will be to transform the company and spin off or sell the steel business.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in March 2023, ThyssenKrupp renewed efforts to sell its steel division in cooperation with US bank Goldman Sachs.

Last year, a German company froze the idea of ​​spinning off its steel business after unsuccessful attempts to register, sell or find a merger partner for Europe’s second-largest steelmaker.

ThyssenKrupp’s steel division could be valued at €1.5bn ($1.6bn), excluding pension liabilities, which have dropped significantly from €4bn due to higher interest rates, the sources said.