ThyssenKrupp Steel AG subsidiary Berkenhoff GmbH has been sold to the private equity investor Granville Baird Capital Partners in Hamburg as part of a management buyout. The sale was effective October 1, 2004.

Specializing in the production of nonferrous metal wire, Berkenhoff is no longer a core business of ThyssenKrupp Steel. This best-owner solution will give the company and its employees a new business perspective that ThyssenKrupp Steel, with its clear focus on carbon and stainless flat steel, could no longer guarantee.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Berkenhoff is active worldwide with five business units and is world market leader in the production of wire for electrical discharge machining. In fiscal year 2003/04, Berkenhoff had sales of €88 million and around 680 employees.