HAMBURG/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp (DE:TKAG) is considering reviving plans for a steel merger with smaller German peer Salzgitter (DE:SZGG), magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday, not citing where it obtained the information.
The report said that Thyssenkrupp Chief Executive Martina Merz and her counterpart at Salzgitter, Heinz Joerg Fuhrmann, are due to meet soon on the matter, which has surfaced regularly in recent years but failed to materialise.
A spokesman for Salzgitter said while both executives had met last year there were no plans for further talks at the moment.
He also reiterated previous remarks by Fuhrmann, who said in August that he had so far not seen a convincing plan for a steel merger, stopping short of ruling out that it might happen at some point in the future.
Thyssenkrupp said it was currently focusing on implementing its steel strategy, which was announced last month, adding this included talks with labour representatives.
The group reiterated that a consolidation of the European steel sector continued to make sense.