Germany-based steelmaker ThyssenKrupp has announced that its planned joint venture (JV) with India-headquartered steel giant Tata Steel will be delayed because the consultation process with employee representatives at Tata Steel Europe’s plants in the Netherlands and the UK is continuing.
ThyssenKrupp stated that, as part of the required consultation processes, Tata Steel is currently working to finalize its arrangements in the Netherlands and the UK, including co-determination requirements as per national law. ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel have agreed that entities across all sites and businesses will be integrated and managed as one company in the joint venture.
Accordingly, ThyssenKrupp expects that the boards of the two companies will decide on the joint venture within the first half of this year and the signing of the agreement for the establishment of the joint venture is planned afterwards.
In September 2017, ThyssenKrupp announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Steel to combine their European steel activities in a joint venture. The signing of the agreement for the establishment of the joint venture was first targeted for early this year and the closing - the effective start of the joint venture - was expected to take place in late 2018 following antitrust approval by the relevant authorities.