By Tom Käckenhoff
DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Thyssenkrupp is planning to sell minority stakes in its automotive, materials trading and green technologies divisions in the coming years, it said on Monday, in the latest restructuring move by the German conglomerate.
The move is aimed at further simplifying the group’s sprawling set-up, which covers submarines, steel and car parts among other industrial goods, and continues a process initiated years ago with the sale of most of its elevator division.
“Such a step will enable us to leverage the full value creation potential of the businesses and use their independence in a targeted way for investments, market opportunities, and further growth,” Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez said.
Thyssenkrupp will open up the three divisions to external ownership but remain a majority owner in each of the businesses in any future set-up, similar to former hydrogen unit Thyssenkrupp Nucera that was listed in 2023.
The Automotive Technology and Materials Services units will be prepared for the capital market, Thyssenkrupp said, adding Decarbon Technologies, which bundles the firm’s units focused on CO2 reduction, will also become independent.
Thyssenkrupp said the aim was to become a holding company with shareholdings in independent business areas.
Its shares were 8.3% higher at 1511 GMT.
Thyssenkrupp is currently in the process of spinning off its warship unit in 2025 while its steel division is planned to become a 50-50 joint venture with Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
The company’s labour representatives said that while they were not generally opposed to any restructuring, they demanded that compulsory layoffs be ruled out.
“We reject the idea of slicing up the group and gradually floating it on the stock exchange – without a vision for the future with prospects for employees and locations in all areas,” said Juergen Kerner, IG Metall board member and deputy chairman of Thyssenkrupp’s supervisory board.
(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff, Friederike Heine and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Rachel More, Ludwig Burger and Tomasz Janowski)
