CEO Martina Merz completely reorganizes Thyssen-Krupp

At Europe's largest steel mill, 14,000 employees in Duisburg are waiting for Thyssen-Krupp's executive board to decide what to do with the steel production.

The head of the group Martina Merz announced the corresponding decree for March. There are three options: steel remains in the group, steel is separated into an independent unit (by-product), or steel goes to British Liberty Steel. However, doubts about Liberty boss Sanjeev Gupta have intensified lately. “Last week Liberty Steel sent us an offer that we are currently reviewing very closely,” Merz explains to shareholders at a general meeting this Friday. In the UK proposal, "there is still a need to clarify a number of difficult issues."

Weak trust in Liberty Steel
Merz and her colleagues at the Essen headquarters do not trust Gupta. “He promises too much,” says Thyssen-Krupp. And he does not have a convincing vision of how to take the steel sector into a CO2-free future. The financial concept for this is not obvious. In short: the steel division is likely to be spun off, but will remain linked to the group as shareholders, including the Krupp Foundation, still own a stake in the steel industry.

According to Martina Merz, the steel business is in "huge problems", especially due to excess production capacity in Europe. Still: Steel Has a Future as a high-tech material whose importance is growing. "That's why one of the main goals is to make steel fit for the future." It doesn't look like a sale. In general, they are working "with a lot of pressure on a future-oriented list of steel, using their own resources." So the sequel is under the corporate umbrella or spin-off. For each option, "there are many requirements to be met and we are currently testing them very thoroughly." For them, the sustainability of the entire group is critical, according to Merz.