no taboos on steel unit, no talks with Salzgitter on tie-up By Reuters

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Thyssenkrupp (ETR:) is not ruling out a sale, spin-off or merger of its steel division to realise a stand-alone scenario it deems best for the business, but added there were no talks currently with German rival Salzgitter about a tie-up.

“Consolidation in the steel business is an issue that has been discussed for, I think, 15, 20 years. There have always been discussions,” Chief Financial Officer Klaus Keysberg said at the group’s annual press conference.

“There has never been, in principle, a concept that would have been, let’s say, satisfactory for both parties, or would have been motivation enough to do it. And there is no such thing at the moment, to put it bluntly. There are no discussions on that.”