FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The works council chief of Thyssenkrupp is not aware of any examination by the German industrial group of a possible break-up, he told Reuters on Wednesday.
"I'm not aware of any such deliberations," Wilhelm Segerath said after German business daily Boersen-Zeitung cited the deputy supervisory board chief of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, another labour representative, as saying he was ready to consider alternatives to a steel merger with Tata Steel Europe..
The Boersen-Zeitung cited an unnamed foreign investment banker as saying that Thyssenkrupp - which also makes car parts, submarines and elevators - could consider a break-up.
Thyssenkrupp shares briefly rose as much as 3 percent. By 1007 GMT, they were down 0.9 percent to 25.32 euros.
Segerath, who heads the works council for the entire group, reiterated that labour representatives opposed the planned steel joint venture with Tata, which he described as "balance sheet cosmetics".
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Ludwig Burger)