Tata Steel Ltd shares fell as much as 7.7% in intraday trade on Friday after reports emerged that German industrial group Thyssenkrupp is expecting its joint venture with Tata Steel Ltd to be abandoned after failing to win antitrust approval. In June 2018, Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel Ltd had unveiled plans to combine their steel activities in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain to become Europe’s second-largest steel maker after ArcelorMittal. Thyssenkrupp Materials would have held a 50% stake in the planned steel JV with Tata Steel. But the landmark deal between ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel Ltd has not yet been approved due to concerns about its impact on competition.
According to a report, EU antitrust regulators are concerned that the deal between Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel Ltd would lead to less choice and higher prices for steel and were likely to block it unless the companies offered greater concessions.
The European Commission (EC), one of the approval agency for the merger, in October last year said that they will investigate the impact of the planned combination of Tata Steel Ltd and ThyssenKrupp on competition in Europe’s steel markets. EC expressed concerns about the merger in three areas -- steel for automotive applications, metallic coated steel for packaging and grain-oriented electrical steel. It asked to ensure that the merger won’t impact competition in the region.
A ThyssenKrupp spokesman said: “The Competition Commission has taken the reworked commitments proposed by ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel as an opportunity to conduct another market test... (However,) There are still a number of ways to adjust our commitments without compromising the commercial logic of the joint venture.”
At 2:52pm, Tata Steel Ltd shares were trading at Rs 490 a piece, down 5.6%., on BSE.
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