ThyssenKrupp to sell Inoxum stainless steel to Finland’s Outokumpu for $3.55 bn
31 Jan 2012
ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany's largest steelmaker, today said that it will sell its Inoxum stainless steel division to Finland's Outokumpu Oyj, for €2.7 billion ($3.55 billion).
As part of the transaction, ThyssenKrupp will retain a minority 29.9 per cent stake in Inoxum, receive a ''significant'' cash payment and transfer financial and pension liabilities of Inoxum to Outokumpu, the Essen-based steelmaker said in a statement.
Combining Inoxum and Outokumpu would create the world's largest maker of stainless steel with more than 19,000 employees, over €10 billion in annual revenue and annual output of cold-rolled stainless steel in excess of two million tons.
According to the tentative agreement, the transaction would value Inoxum at an enterprise value of €2.7 billion. Outokumpu will pay €1 billion in cash, 29.9 per cent in new shares, a loan note of €235 million, and assume Inoxum's debt of €422 million.
ThyssenKrupp said that it has reached an agreement with union representatives wherein the deal excludes forced layoffs through 2015.
The steelmaker has agreed to keep its facility for melting scrap metal in Krefeld, Germany running through the end of 2013 and a similar one in Bochum through 2016.
