The European Commission has prohibited the creation of a joint venture by Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp under the EU Merger Regulation. The merger would have reduced competition and increased prices for different types of steel. The parties did not offer adequate remedies to address these concerns.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Steel is a crucial input for many things we use in our everyday life, such as canned food and cars. Millions of people in Europe work in these sectors and companies depend on competitive steel prices to sell on a global level. Without remedies addressing our serious competition concerns, the merger between Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp would have resulted in higher prices. So we prohibited the merger to avoid serious harm to European industrial customers and consumers“.
Today’s decision follows an in-depth investigation by the Commission of the proposed joint venture, which would have combined the flat carbon steel and electrical steel activities of ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel in the European Economic Area (EEA). ThyssenKrupp is the second largest producer of flat carbon steel in the EEA while Tata Steel is the third largest. Both companies are significant producers of metallic coated and laminated steel for packaging applications and of galvanised flat carbon steel for the automotive industry.
Read more via: European Commission