Thyssenkrupp's Autumn Unbundling: Materials Arm Set for Frankfurt Debut as Hydrogen Unit Stumbles
Published on 08/03/2026 at 18:23 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The long-promised dismantling of Thyssenkrupp is taking concrete shape. The Essen-based industrial conglomerate has confirmed that its materials trading division, tk accelis — the business formerly known as Materials Services — will list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's regulated market in late October 2026, once the spin-off is registered in the commercial register. Shareholders are entitled to one share in TK Accelis Group AG & Co. KGaA for every 20 Thyssenkrupp shares they hold, with the parent initially retaining a 51 percent stake. That holding can later be trimmed to as little as 30 percent, according to Dow Jones News.
The transaction requires shareholder approval, and that vote arrives this Friday at an extraordinary general meeting conducted virtually. Spartenchefin Ilse Henne has made the timeline unambiguous, telling the Handelsblatt: "Our goal is to complete the stock market listing in 2026." The division, which bills itself as the world's largest materials trader, the market leader in Europe and the number three player in North America, generated sales of €11.4 billion in fiscal 2024/25 and employs more than 15,000 people. Management's medium-term targets call for revenue growth above 4 percent and an EBITDA margin between 4 and 5 percent. Henne has also flagged expansion in North America, potentially through acquisitions, while pressing for greater supply chain transparency and a more coherent industrial policy.
The listing marks the third pillar of CEO Miguel Lopez's strategy to reshape Thyssenkrupp into a financial holding, with operating units gaining greater autonomy and direct capital market access. Hydrogen subsidiary Nucera and the naval division TKMS have already gone down this path, and the remaining steel business is still awaiting a solution. The market has warmed to the narrative: the Thyssenkrupp share advanced 1.20 percent on Monday to €12.21, bringing its year-to-date gain to 31.60 percent. That leaves the stock roughly 7.85 percent shy of its 52-week high of €13.24, reached on 9 October last year.
Hydrogen Unit's Numbers Raise Eyebrows
The spin-off vote is not the only item on the agenda. Thyssenkrupp Nucera has published preliminary figures for the third quarter of fiscal 2025/26 that show the toll the hydrogen market's slow maturation is taking on the group's clean energy arm. Revenue came in at €145 million, down from €184 million in the same period a year earlier, while the operating result landed at minus €2 million for the quarter. Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, the cumulative EBIT deficit widened to minus €69 million. According to dpa-AFX, the figures came in slightly above market expectations, helped by pull-forward effects in the chlor-alkali segment. The company will release its full quarterly statement on 12 August, one day before the parent group presents its own third-quarter interim report.
Operationally, Nucera has not been idle. In Palmeira, Brazil, the company handed over a newly commissioned chlor-alkali electrolysis plant to customer Chlorum Solutions. In India, it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited covering local manufacturing of alkaline water electrolysers. And in a sign of its growing political clout, the Federal Ministry of Economics has appointed Nucera CEO Werner Ponikwar to the National Hydrogen Council.
Naval Ambitions and Steel Exits
The naval division is pursuing its own agenda. TKMS is reportedly in negotiations over multibillion-euro submarine orders with Canada and India. Canada, which plans to replace its Victoria-class submarines by 2034, could acquire up to twelve 212CD-class boats with a total volume of around C$24 billion, with TKMS viewed as the preferred partner. India's Project 75I involves six Type 214 submarines worth approximately €8 billion, to be built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders. The management is also building a European alliance with Spain's Navantia.
Bernstein Research weighed in on 22 July, reaffirming a "Market-Perform" rating on TKMS with a price target of €76.00. The analysts described the company's own forecasts as "too defensive," suggesting they see more operational potential in the naval business than management has so far communicated.
The steel division, meanwhile, has undergone a structural shift of its own. Salzgitter AG acquired all shares in Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann in early July from the previous shareholders. Thyssenkrupp Steel, which held a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, has now exited that investment entirely.
Labour Unrest and the China Question
Not all the news is about corporate mechanics. IG Metall has warned of the potential closure of the Thyssenkrupp electrical steel plant in Gelsenkirchen. NRW district leader Knut Giesler cautioned, according to WAZ: "If we lose the plant in Gelsenkirchen, we become dependent on China again." The facility produces electrical steel strip for transformers, and Giesler argues that tariffs offer insufficient protection against dumping imports from Asia.
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A Defining Stretch for the Stock
The share price has been choppy in recent sessions. Friday's close of €12.06 represented a 0.78 percent decline, though the year-to-date advance of 30.04 percent underscores how much ground the stock has already covered. The coming weeks will test whether that momentum holds: the extraordinary general meeting on Friday, Nucera's full quarterly disclosure on 12 August and the group's own interim report a day later will together lay bare both the conglomerate's structural trajectory and the operating health of its individual businesses. For investors, the verdict on the accelis spin-off will serve as the clearest signal yet of whether Lopez's unbundling strategy is gaining traction — or merely rearranging the furniture.
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