ThyssenKrupp of Germany is in the midst of planning to undertake share sales in an effort to raise Eur1 billion to improve its financial position. This course of action was decided upon after it had convinced its biggest shareholder to approve of the planned share sale.
This was reported in a newspaper causing share prices to tumble. In the past year, ThyssenKrupp has been struggling to reduce its debts as the European economy continues to slump in its demand for steel. This was compounded by a failed bid to expand to the Americas. Initially, a share sale was out of the question because of the opposition of its biggest investor the Alfried Krupp von Bohlan und Halback Foundation, whose share position would be diluted with the share sale.
The German paper Handlesblatt reported though that CEO Heirich Hiesinger was able to convince the foundation's head Berthold Beitz to drop the opposition, leading to a possible share sale by the end of September, the end of the steelmaker's financial year.
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