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In a bid to further trim its exposure in Europe, Tata Steel has identified five non-core assets for potential sale and has sought buyer interest in the assets.
Tata Steel Europe, which has a debt of around €3 billion, recently conducted a detailed portfolio review of all its businesses to assess their strategic fit and future potential.
Based on the review, the company has begun a process of seeking buyers for business units that supply products to niche markets, allowing the company to continue to strengthen its focus on strategic strip products and markets, said Tata Steel in a statement on Tuesday.
Units for sale
The units identified for sale include Cogent — a manufacturer and processor of electrical steels based in Newport, South Wales (UK), Burlington (Canada) and Surahammar (Sweden).
Two others on the block are Kalzip, an aluminium roofing and cladding business based primarily in Koblenz, Germany, and Firsteel, which coats steel for kitchen bakeware and is based in Walsall, West Midlands, UK.
This apart, Turkey-based Tata Steel Istanbul Metals, a coil coating company using steel bought from the open market, and Engineering Steels Service Centre (Wolverhampton) in the UK have also been put on the block.
Hans Fischer, CEO of Tata Steel’s European operations, said the customer bases for the businesses being sold are distinct from the rest of Tata Steel Europe. “We want to find the best owner for each of these business units ... to help them realise their full potential,” he said.
The potential sales would enable Tata Steel Europe to focus investment and management resources on its core strip products business and strategic markets. The company would also focus on developing the most sustainable steel business in Europe, he added.
Following the potential sale of these business units, which employ a total of 1,100, Tata Steel Europe would continue to employ 20,000 in manufacturing advanced products for the automotive, construction, engineering and packaging sectors.
Tata Steel had earlier sold other non-core businesses. It is also in the process of forming a joint venture with Thyssenkrupp AG to run the remaining European business.
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