(Reuters) -German shipbuilder Luerssen and defence group Rheinmetall could emerge as potential suitors for the warship division of conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, two people familiar with the matter said.
It comes a day after news that private equity firm Carlyle had dropped out of the process for Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), in what was a blow to Thyssenkrupp’s ongoing restructuring and had weighed on shares.
Rheinmetall and Luerssen declined comment.
Thyssenkrupp referred to comments made on Tuesday, when it said it would intensify efforts to find a standalone solution for TKMS, including a possible spin-off, adding that it also remained open to industrial partnerships.
Handelsblatt reported earlier, citing industry sources, that Luerssen had expressed interest in TKMS and that talks were also being held with Rheinmetall about a potential deal.
Thyssenkrupp Chief Executive Miguel Lopez in August told analysts he was confident that efforts to sell TKMS, either to a consortium of buyers or via a spin-off, would succeed in “coming months”.
For a long time, Luerssen had shown no interest because the risks would have been too great and the business too complex, Handelsblatt reported, adding that view has since changed but the company would only step in if the German government also agreed to buy a stake.
Thyssenkrupp previously said it remained in talks with the government about a possible minority stake sale in TKMS.
(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi, Kirsti Knolle and Christoph Steitz; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Miranda Murray and David Evans)
