Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp to abandon merger

First announced two years ago, the merger between India’s Tata Steel and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp may not be going ahead.

The merger would have created the second-largest steelmaker in Europe, behind ArcelorMittal, with each company having a 50-50 share.

But the firms have announced they will abandon the deal, as concessions demanded by the EU competition regulator made the deal uneconomical.

Thyssenkrupp said: “Further commitments or improvements would adversely affect the intended synergies of the merger to such an extent that the economic logic of the joint venture would no longer be valid.”

Tata Steel added: “While the proposed joint venture was an important strategic initiative for Tata Steel to create a sustainable portfolio in Europe that would have also helped to de-consolidate the European business and de-leverage its balance sheet, Tata Steel remains committed to the above strategy and would explore all options to achieve similar outcomes in the future.”