The European arm of Tata Steel today said it is exploring potential sale of non-core businesses, to help the company focus its investment and management resources on the core strip products business and strategic markets.
Tata Steel Europe said it has recently conducted a detailed portfolio review of all its businesses to assess the strategic fit and the future potential.
Based on the review, we have begun a process of seeking buyers for business units which supply products to niche markets, allowing the company to continue to strengthen its focus on strategic strip products and markets, a company statement said here.
The sale process will cover five business units, which includes units of Cogent, a manufacturer and processor of electrical steel based in Newport, South Wales in UK, Burlington, Canada and at Surahammar in Sweden.
The sale process will also cover units of Kalzip, an aluminium roofing and cladding business based primarily in Koblenz, Germany and Firsteel which coats steel for kitchen bakeware based in Walsall, West Midlands, UK.
The company's Tata Steel Istanbul Metals, a coil coating company using steel bought on the open market, based in Adapazari, Turkey and Engineering Steels Service Centre (Wolverhampton) which is a stockholder and processes engineering steels, based in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK will also cover sale process, the release said.
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As a responsible seller Tata Steel is committed to seeking the best and most sustainable future for all the businesses, it added.
"These potential sales follow 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," Tata Steel's European operations CEO Hans Fischer said.
"The customer base 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, Fischer said," he said