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Thyssen scraps steel IPO
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August 16, 2000: 4:17 a.m. ET
German firm says valuations too low in steel sector to go ahead with offering
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LONDON (CNNfn) - German steel and engineering firm ThyssenKrupp AG called off a partial IPO of its steel unit Wednesday, citing a weak market for stocks in the sector.
The Dusseldorf-based company's stock slid nearly 8 percent to  17 ($15.5) in early trading in Frankfurt after announcing it decided, together with investment banks Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, to cancel the proposed September offering.
"A limit has been reached which would make it impossible to achieve the goal of creating added value for the group," ThyssenKrupp said in a statement. "The strategic advantages of the initial public offering for ThyssenKrupp do not justify accepting the disadvantages currently associated with it."
The company's shares have slid as much as 50 percent this year amid investor jitters that steel prices are reaching their peak globally.
 Three weeks ago, ThyssenKrupp (FTKA) said the IPO was set to go ahead, describing it as a central element of its strategic shift toward its core engineering businesses.
The company had planned to offer a 25 to 35 percent stake and had expected proceeds of about three 3 billion marks ($1.4 billion) to finance acquisitions and partnerships in Europe's consolidating steel market.
Also Wednesday, ThyssenKrupp reported fiscal third quarter earnings of about 200 million ($183 million) for the steel division, one of the world's biggest flat steel producers and manufacturers of stainless flat-rolled products.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, earnings totaled roughly 400 million For the fourth quarter that ends in September, "a very good profit is again expected," the company said. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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