Thyssenkrupp targets end-October completion for spin-off of materials trading unit (updated)
UPDATE 1-Thyssenkrupp targets end-October completion for spin-off of materials trading unit Adds details from statement, Handelsblatt interview with unit's CEO from paragraph 4
Aug 3 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE said on Monday it expected the planned spinoff of its materials trading division tk accelis to be effective at the end of October, according to remarks for an upcoming shareholder meeting published on the firm's website.
Thyssenkrupp will file for registration of the spin-off in the relevant commercial registers by the end of August, it said.
Seeking to become a holding firm, Thyssenkrupp in June unveiled plans to spin off the division, which accounts for nearly a third of the group's sales.
Shareholders will vote on whether to spin off 49% of the division at an extraordinary meeting on Friday.
"We are already in very positive discussions with various investors," the unit's CEO, Ilse Henne, told Handelsblatt in an interview published on Monday.
Henne told the paper that the spin-off will allow the unit to drive its own growth in high-margin sectors, with the planned expansion focused primarily on North America.
In addition to organic growth, growth through acquisitions is also on the table, Henne said.
The Supervisory Board of tk accelis Group AG & Co. KGaA will comprise a total of 10 members, Monday's remarks showed.
($1 = 0.8616 euros)
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Linda Pasquini
Editing by Miranda Murray)