UK-based Liberty Steel Group, part of the GFG Alliance, has announced that it has made a non-binding indicative offer to acquire German-based Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit which is in a bad condition.
Liberty Steel stated that it is convinced that a possible combination of Liberty Steel and Thyssenkrupp Steel would create a strong group well positioned to tackle the challenges faced by the European steel industry and accelerate the transformation to green steel.
Meanwhile, Germany’s industrial union of metalworkers IG Metall is known to be opposed to the potential takeover of Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit, as it could lead to job losses. The union also recently urged the German government to help rescue the steel unit.
Thyssenkrupp has been looking for buyers or partners for its steel unit for a while due to its operating losses, and there were talks about potential mergers with Salzgitter, Tata Steel and SSAB. However, recently German steelmaker Salzgitter Group rejected the idea of an alliance, as SteelOrbis previously reported. The company had also held initial talks with Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB over a potential combination with its steel unit.
The company sold its elevator division for €17.2 billion earlier this year to strengthen its balance sheet, as SteelOrbis previously reported.