London: Tata Steel, Europe's second largest steel producer, on Thursday announced acquisition of three new service centres in Sweden, Finland and Norway to strengthen its offering to manufacturers in the Nordic region.
Tata Steel in Europe struck an agreement with steel producer SSAB to buy its strip products service centres at Halmstad in Sweden and Naantali in Finland.
It will also acquire from SSAB the remaining 50 percent stake it does not already own in Norsk Stal Tynnplater AS, another strip products service centre based in Fredrikstad, Norway.
The company, however, did not disclose value of the transactions.
The European Commission has approved the sale of these service centres to Tata Steel, the Indian steel major said in an official statement. SSAB was required to sell them as a condition of its takeover of Rautaruukki.
The transactions, however, remain subject to approval from competition authorities in Norway, Sweden and Finland, and their implementation will follow these approvals.
Karl Koehler, Chief Executive of Tata Steel in Europe, said: "Tata Steel's European operations have served customers in the Nordic steel markets for many years. These acquisitions will strengthen our strip products offering to manufacturers in this region."
"Improving our local processing capability will significantly enhance our product offering and service levels to customers. There is a sophisticated and demanding customer base in the Nordic region which increasingly requires advanced steel products."
Tata Steel is committed to developing these innovative products which give our customers a competitive edge, he added.
"We are also looking forward to welcoming new colleagues to our European steel business," Koehler added.
The three centres process strip products offering services such as cutting-to-length, slitting and recoiling.
They supply steel to manufacturers in the automotive, construction and electrical supplies industries, as well as to heavy and light engineering companies, the company said in a statement.
About 180 people are employed at the three centres -? 50 at Norsk Stal Tynnplater, 70 people at Naantali and 60 at Halmstad.
Tata Steel Europe had recently announced the launch of its 100th new product in its revitalised new product development programme in Europe.
