ESSEN Germany (Reuters) - ThyssenKrupp (>> ThyssenKrupp AG) plans to start talks with Airbus about a possible buy-out of Airbus's 49 percent stake in submarine supplier Atlas Elektronik, its chief executive said.

"We will initiate talks with Airbus about its stake in Atlas in order to find an optimal solution," Heinrich Hiesinger told a news conference on Tuesday.

Airbus, Europe's largest aerospace group, earlier unveiled plans to sell half a dozen units as it focuses its Defence and Space division on the core activities of warplanes, missiles, launchers and satellites.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)

Stocks treated in this article : AIRBUS GROUP, ThyssenKrupp AG