(BFM Stock Exchange) – Shareholders of the German industrial conglomerate have largely voted in favor of the split of the TKMS naval division. This is a preliminary step before an entry into the stock market, hoped for in October, subject to the approval of the German market authorities.

Thyssenkrupp shareholders acclaimed on Friday the split of its TKMS naval division, called to play an increased role in European rearmament, opening the way to its entry into the stock market and initiating the restructuring of the conglomerate in crisis.

At the end of an extraordinary general meeting online, 99.96% of the shareholders of the Essen group voted for the proposal of the management of the Essen group to separate from TKMS by a “spin-off” (split).

Concretely, these will be distributed 49% of the shares of the manufacturer of submarines and frigates, while the conglomerate will keep a majority part.

TKMS can then be introduced to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, targeting the month of October according to the approval of the German financial gendarme, said Volkmar Dinstuhl, member of the group’s executive board.

“Visibility” and “flexibility” for TKMS

The operation should provide more “visibility” and “flexibility” for TKMS, so that it plays “an active role in the expected consolidation of the European defense industry,” Miguel López, chairman of the Thyssenkrupp board, said on Friday.

TKMS only represented about 6% of the conglomerate turnover in 2024, but it is one of the only branches to be still profitable, carried by the dynamism of its orders placed with several European and allied armies.

Around 3:20 p.m., investors at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rewarded the Thyssenkrupp title, up 3.14% in an MDAX index winning 0.77%.

During the assembly, several shareholders nevertheless criticized a mode of governance of the future company too closely linked to the parent company.

In particular, the future TKMS supervisory board will mainly consist of representatives of Thyssenkrupp.

“It takes much more than symbolic independence,” criticized Henrik Schmidt of the DWS investment fund, comparing the parent company to “a ghost captain” who wants to “keep the TKMS ship moored at the port”.

For Florian Honsoelmann, of the association for the protection of investors, the meeting of the day “will not change anything in the deficit of steel activities, the central problem of Thyssenkrupp”.

After two consecutive annual losses, Thyssenkrupp announced in June wanting to gradually separate all sectors of activity, which also include steel, automotive parts, or electrolysis.

(With AFP)