Following the forced divestment of its Swedish Kockums acquisition, The German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp is seeking to divest the remaining assets related to submarine construction – under its Marine Systems (TKMS) business group, operating three divisions – submarines (formerly HDW in Kiel), military surface vessels (at Emden and Hamburg) and services (at Kiel and Hamburg). TKMS was founded when ThyssenKrupp acquired HDW in 2005. TKMS focused on the construction of military naval vessels and submarines, after its civilian business line was sold to Abu Dhabi MAR in 2011.
ThyssenKrupp president Heinrich Hiesinger was recently quoted by the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung saying the company will be ready to sell the submarine unit if the right proposal will be made. The company recently reported a profit of €210 million after three years of losses.
“The precondition for any talks would be an offer that reflects the value of the business,” the paper quoted Heinrich Hiesinger as saying. “This can’t be based on a purely political decision or merely on another company’s wishes.” Hiesinger added the group was under no pressure to sell because the shipyard was profitable and had an order backlog that would last for the next few years.
[ismember]Reuters reporting the story[/ismember][nonmember]Reuters reporting the story[/nonmember] noted that ThyssenKrupp had started approaching potential buyers for its submarine unit, including French peer DCNS and German group Rheinmetall, whose main product is submarines.
