ThyssenKrupp Has Possible Buyers For Alabama, Brazil Operations - Report
06/03/2012| 08:32am US/Eastern
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ThyssenKrupp AG (>> ThyssenKrupp AG) has potential buyers for its steel plants in Alabama in the U.S., and Brazil, the weekly wirthschaftswoche reports in an article published Sunday.
The Brazilian mining company Vale SA (VALE) is interested in the assets, the article says, citing Brazilian industry sources. The head of the Vale group, Murilo Ferreira, met last week with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to discuss details of a full takeover of ThyssenKrupp's steel plant as well as the progress of negotiations with ThyssenKrupp, the article says. Vale already owns a 27% stake in ThyssenKrupp's steel plant, which is near Rio de Janeiro.
Another interested investor is Eike Batista, the article adds. Earlier this year, Batista formed a venture with German utility E.ON AG (>> E.ON AG) to build power plants in Brazil.
POSCO (PKX) is interested in acquiring ThyssenKrupp's Alabama steel plant, the article says, without elaborating.
A ThyssenKrupp spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment to Dow Jones Newswires.
In mid-May, the steelmaker said it was considering selling new steel mills in the U.S. and Brazil, or bringing in partners to improve performance sustainably.
At the time, ThyssenKrupp Chief Executive Heinrich Hiesinger declined to provide a timeframe for selling the Steel Americas business, citing the complexity of such a transaction. But he said ThyssenKrupp had to act on the operations in Brazil and the U.S., after they had accumulated losses of around EUR500 million in the first six months of the company's business year. In fiscal 2011, the losses had amounted to around EUR1 billion.
Magazine website: http://www.wiwo.de
-Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; 49-69-29725-500
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