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| Steel firms Thyssenkrupp and Tata to merge | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp have agreed a merger that will create Europe's second-biggest steelmaker, after Arcelor Mittal. | |
| German-owned Thyssenkrupp's supervisory board gave the go-ahead to the joint venture on Friday. | |
| The deal will mean Indian-owned Tata Steel's UK plants are merged into a pan-European venture with annual sales of about £13bn. | The deal will mean Indian-owned Tata Steel's UK plants are merged into a pan-European venture with annual sales of about £13bn. |
| These include the UK's biggest steelworks at Port Talbot in Wales. | These include the UK's biggest steelworks at Port Talbot in Wales. |
| Almost 7,000 people are employed by Tata in Wales, including more than 4,000 in Port Talbot - the largest steel works in the UK. | |
| The two companies have been in talks over a 50-50 tie-up since 2016. | |
| When details of an initial agreement emerged last September both sides said they expected about 4,000 jobs would go as a result of the merger, with half coming from administration and half from production. | |
| The job losses will be shared evenly between the two companies. | |
| In Wales unions hope the deal will bring an end to uncertainty for workers. | |
| Tony Brady, national officer for Unite, said: "We will be seeking guarantees over jobs and investment. | |
| "The UK plants desperately require a level playing field through investment and commitment to the long-term future of steel making at Port Talbot." | |
| Overcapacity | |
| The merged group anticipates it will make costs savings of between £350m to £440m a year. | |
| Thyssenkrupp chief executive Heinrich Hiesinger has previously said the two companies needed to consolidate and become more efficient because of increasing pressure from imports and an overcapacity within the industry. | |
| More recently European steel makers have faced 25% tariffs on their exports to the their biggest market, the US. | |
| "The joint venture with Tata Steel is an important milestone for the transformation of Thyssenkrupp to an industrials and service group and will lead to a significant improvement of the financial figures of Thyssenkrupp," the group said in a statement. | "The joint venture with Tata Steel is an important milestone for the transformation of Thyssenkrupp to an industrials and service group and will lead to a significant improvement of the financial figures of Thyssenkrupp," the group said in a statement. |
| The new company will be called Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel and be based in the Netherlands. |