ThyssenKrupp will not increase its C$68 per share offer to purchase Dofasco
The Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG has decided not to submit a higher offer to purchase the Canadian steel manufacturer Dofasco Inc. ThyssenKrupp is thus waiving its "right to match". The time limit for this ended yesterday, January 23, 2006, midnight EST/today, 6 a.m. CET. ThyssenKrupp's offer to buy Dofasco's shares at C$68 per share expires January 26, 2006. Then, if the transaction fails to come about, ThyssenKrupp will receive a break fee of C$215 million.
"We said from the start that despite the strategic attractiveness of Dofasco we would not take part in a value-destroying bidding contest. We believe that an offer of more than C$68 goes beyond the point of profitability. Another increase in our offer would therefore not be economically justifiable," explained Dr. Ekkehard Schulz, Executive Board Chairman of ThyssenKrupp AG.
ThyssenKrupp will systematically implement the global growth strategy of its Steel segment. The first step is the resolved construction of a 4.4 million metric ton capacity slab plant at the low-cost coastal location of Sepetiba in Brazil. When presenting the plans to build a slab plant in Brazil, ThyssenKrupp announced that part of the capacity would be used as starting material for realizing its strategy in North America. Besides the acquisition of Dofasco, the alternative planning scenarios are a "new mill" or "alliances". After giving up the Dofasco option, ThyssenKrupp will now further pursue these alternatives. The Group already has more than 26,000 employees in the USA generating sales of €8.1 billion, around 18 percent of total Group sales.
Remarks by Executive Board Chairman Dr.-Ing. Ekkehard D. Schulz
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