Thyssenkrupp plans sale of naval vessels business

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp is examining a full or partial exit from its naval vessels business, which is part of the group’s Marine Systems unit, a person familiar with the matter said.

The news was first reported by German newspaper Handelsblatt, which said the company was in talks with competitors that could result in a complete or partial sale of the activities, adding they would be wound down if no agreement would be reached.

The paper said the group was also mulling an exit from its submarine business.

Thyssenkrupp said it generally does not comment on market speculation.

Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems was hit earlier this year when a consortium it was part of was excluded from a German military tender for the country’s new MKS 180 warship.

“The exclusion was a significant blow and it was a surprise to us to have been excluded with regard to the MKS 180,” a spokesman for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems said.

The vessel is one of the German military’s largest armament initiatives and designed to combat targets in the air, above, and below water and to conduct land operations.

Thyssenkrupp does not issue financial results for its Marine Systems, which is part of the group’s struggling Industrial Solutions division, whose order intake more than halved to 924 million euros ($1.1 billion) in the second quarter.