Tata Steel Europe has recently conducted a detailed portfolio review of all its businesses to assess the strategic fit and future potential. Based on the review, Tata Steel Europe has begun a process of seeking buyers for business units which supply products to niche markets. This will allow the company to continue to strengthen its focus on strategic strip products and markets.
The sale process will cover five business units for Tata Steel Europe:
- Cogent, a manufacturer and processor of electrical steels based in Newport, South Wales (UK), Burlington, Canada and Surahammar, Sweden
- Kalzip, an aluminium roofing and cladding business based primarily in Koblenz, Germany
- Firsteel which coats steel for kitchen bakeware based in Walsall, West Midlands, UK
- Tata Steel Istanbul Metals, a coil coating company using steel bought on the open market, based in Adapazari, Turkey
- Engineering Steels Service Centre (Wolverhampton) which is a stockholder and processes engineering steels, based in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK.
As a responsible seller, the company is committed to seeking the best and most sustainable future for all the businesses.
Hans Fischer, CEO of Tata Steel’s European operations, said: “These potential sales also follows the successful sale of other non-core businesses in recent years, such as Long Products Europe and Speciality Steels. Under new ownership these former Tata Steel businesses have found the focus to secure a more sustainable future. In turn, these divestments have allowed us to focus resources on making significant improvements to the core strip business, as part of our ambition to develop the most sustainable steel business in Europe focused on our IJmuiden and Port Talbot value chains.
“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 who can focus on their needs to help them realise their full potential.”
And he added: “These potential sales would enable Tata Steel Europe to focus investment and management resource on its core strip products business and strategic markets.”
Following the potential sale of these business units, which employ a total of 1,100 people, Tata Steel Europe would continue to employ almost 20,000 people manufacturing advanced products for the automotive, construction, engineering and packaging sectors.
