Indian steel giant Tata Steel's European operations has announced that it has reached an agreement Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB to buy the company's strip product service centers at Halmstad in Sweden and Naantali in Finland to strengthen its offering to manufacturers in the Nordic region. Tata Steel will also acquire from SSAB the remaining 50 percent stake it does not already own in Norsk Stål Tynnplater AS, another strip products service centre based in Fredrikstad, Norway.
The three centers process strip products, offering services such as cutting-to-length, slitting and recoiling. They supply steel to manufacturers in the automotive, construction and electrical supplies industries, as well as to heavy and light engineering companies.
Sale of the service centers and the 50 percent remaining stake has been approved by the European Commission as part of the divestment remedies that the European Commission deemed necessary for the combination of Rautaruukki with SSAB.