German steel and engineering group ThyssenKrupp said late on Thursday talks with Adam Opel AG about buying the car maker’s parts business were proving more difficult than expected, Reuters reported.
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“We have a few stumbling blocks which we simply can’t get away from. The talks are in a difficult phase,” Juergen Harnisch, the head of Thyssen’s automotive division, told Reuters.
The news agency noted that Opel, the loss-making General Motors German unit, has been seeking a partner for its components business based in Kaiserslautern in southwestern Germany, Bochum in the industrial Ruhr district and Zaragoza in northeastern Spain, as part of a restructuring plan.
Harnish reportedly said there were differences over the value of the plants in Kaiserslautern.
He also told Reuters that Thyssen was close to reaching a decision on taking over Finnish contract car maker Valmet Automotive, in which it has a 10% stake and an option to buy the remaining 90% from engineering group Metso.
“We’re on the home straight,” he reportedly said.
Reuters noted that Thyssen is in the middle of a massive revamp which will see it spin off around 33 units with combined sales of €7 billion over the next few years while at the same time expanding its steel and capital goods divisions – including the automotive business.
