- Reuters
Carlyle, KfW join forces in effort to buy Thyssenkrupp warship division, sources say
Private equity firm Carlyle and German development bank KfW are in talks to jointly buy most of Thyssenkrupp's submarine unit, three people familiar with the matter said, in the latest sign of how the Ukraine war is reshaping Europe's defence sector. The plan to join forces and take a majority stake in Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) reflects growing investor interest in defence assets as well as efforts by Berlin to keep control over what it considers to be key military technology. All three parties are holding talks about a deal that would hand Carlyle a majority stake in TKMS, while state-owned lender KfW would hold a blocking minority, the people said.
- Reuters
Thyssenkrupp board approves partial sale of steel unit to billionaire Kretinsky
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Thyssenkrupp on Thursday said its supervisory board approved a planned sale of 20% of the conglomerate's steel division to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky in the face of continued opposition from labour representatives. The German industrial group said that labour leaders, who hold half of the non-executive board's seats, voted against the deal. Board Chairman Siegfried Russwurm's vote was counted twice, which is allowed under German corporate governance laws to break a stalemate.
- Reuters
UPDATE 5-Thyssenkrupp cuts profit forecast as steel demand wanes
German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp cut its annual forecasts for sales and net profit for the second time in three months, blaming lower demand and prices at its steel unit, half of which is to be sold to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. The scaled-back guidance underscores a challenging environment for companies focused on capital goods, which need to tackle elevated inflation, raw materials price swings and cooling global demand. It comes less than three weeks after Thyssenkrupp announced a deal to sell 20% of its steel business to Kretinsky's EPCG, a process that has led to a rift with powerful workers that accuse the group's CEO Miguel Lopez of not keeping them in the loop.
