Liberty Steel bids for ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe

Liberty Steel Group has submitted a non-binding indicative offer for ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, the group said today.

Liberty chief executive Sanjeev Gupta is in Germany for talks with the company, and to conduct due diligence.

"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," Liberty said.

The indicative offer is supported by several financial institutions, the company said, and is based on non-exclusive talks.

Liberty has nameplate rolling capacity of 18mn t across its production assets, 10mn t of which is in continental Europe.

ThyssenKrupp is Europe's second-largest producer, with crude capacity of around 11mn t/yr. It has been suffering from the weak steel market in recent years, not helped by its exposure to the automotive sector. ThyssenKrupp has been in talks with SSAB and Tata Steel. A joint venture with the latter was derailed by the European Commission as it wanted divestments that reduced the synergies offered by the merger.

As a result ThyssenKrupp has been seeking alternatives for the lossmaking segment, including a partnership or outright sale.

By Colin Richardson