Sweden’s SSAB ends talks to buy Tata Steel’s Dutch plant

STOCKHOLM: Swedish steelmaker SSAB has halted talks over a potential acquisition of Tata Steel’s Dutch steel mill and related downstream assets. SSB announced in November that it was in talks to buy IJmuiden, raising funding concerns among some analysts and SSAB investors. Analysts had put the deal value at about $2 billion to $3 billion. “We carefully evaluated Tata Steel IJmuiden and have concluded that an acquisition would be difficult for technical reasons,” SSAB Chief Executive Martin Lindqvist said in a statement. “The synergies that we saw in the transaction would not fully justify the costs and investments required for our desired transformation.” SSAB, which also reported stronger than expected fourth-quarter results, has attracted investors in recent years with its Hybrit green steel venture and a Tata deal might not be consistent with that strategy. Tata Steel shares were down 3.9 per cent by 0719 GMT and a Credit Suisse research note said the shelving of talks was a positive for SSAB shares. “The takeover talks for the IJmuiden asset have been a concern to the market because of no obvious synergies and would have jeopardised the group’s ESG (environment, social, governance) strategy,” Credit Suisse said. Germany’s Thyssenkrupp, which had previously held talks with both SSAB and Tata Steel about potential consolidation, declined to comment. — AFP