FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit must cut costs to reach a point where it no longer needs financial support from the group, Chief Executive Martina Merz said in an internal memo to staff seen by Reuters on Friday.
“Steel has to be set up in a robust way throughout the full cycle so that it no longer needs support from the group,” Merz said in the memo.
Her remarks come after the group cancelled an extraordinary supervisory board meeting originally scheduled for March 12 to decide whether to sell the steel division to Britain’s Liberty Steel.
Thyssenkrupp last month terminated sale talks, saying the two sides were far apart on issues like value and funding. The company will now develop the business on its own, which could result in a listing or a partnership.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Joseph Nasr)
