Thyssenkrupp said it is pursuing a plan to spin off a minority stake of its warship division. The newly created holding will be listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The company said it was in talks with the German Government about a possible participation of its marine division Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.

These comments were made in response to a Handelsblatt report, in which people with knowledge of the situation claimed that Thyssenkrupp cancelled a planned sale of TKMS ammunition to Rheinmetall, Europe's largest ammunition manufacturer.

"TKMS has already become one of Germany's largest system suppliers in the maritime defense industry. Thyssenkrupp stated in an emailed comment that the company had excellent prospects on relevant markets.

The increasing demand forecast in TKMS’s core business and the long-term strategic developments offer us opportunities for growth that we would prefer to achieve best through an independent setup.

Last month, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said that Rheinmetall has submitted a nonbinding offer to buy TKMS by the end of 2024. He added that the sale process had been halted because Thyssenkrupp preferred a spin-off.

Thyssenkrupp announced last month that it would no longer pursue a sale despite interest from strategic partners. The company added that the primary objective was to spin off TKMS which, according to analysts, could be worth up 2.3 billion euro ($2.5 billion).

(source: Reuters)