{
  "id": 658427,
  "title": "Corporate restructuring: Ruhr-based conglomerate at the pawnbroker? That's how riskily Thyssenkrupp finances its dismantling",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/konzernumbau-ruhrkonzern-beim-pfandleiher-so-riskant-finanziert",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-12T11:23:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/thyssenkrupp-so-riskant-finanziert-der-ruhrkonzern-seine-zerschlagung/100245771.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Thyssenkrupp wants to drive its transformation forward with an unusual financing model. According to Handelsblatt information, the businesses that will become independent in the future are to cover their capital requirements more strongly through their own credit lines. The assets of the respective subsidiaries are to serve as the basis for this. People familiar with the plans report that this principle is not only to be applied to the materials division TK Accelis, which is expected to go public by the end of this year, but also to the other spin-offs. However, not every division is likely to choose exactly the same credit structure.\n\nThis means that it is becoming clear for the first time how Thyssenkrupp wants to organize the financial side of its restructuring, which has been planned for years. Under the leadership of CEO Miguel López, the industrial conglomerate is to be gradually converted into a financial holding company, in which the individual business units are managed and financed independently. The next unit on the spin-off list is Thyssenkrupp Steel, Germany's largest steel producer.\n\nFor a long time, it was unclear how the individual businesses would be provided with sufficient liquidity after they became independent - and how much risk the parent company would have to take on itself. \"The model chosen now is more long-term than any other financing options that were on the table,\" says a company insider. However, insiders estimate that the chosen financing model also carries risks.\n\nEspecially in economically more difficult phases, the structure could become a problem for the subsidiaries. A prerequisite for independence is not only a robust economic performance and capital market capability but also independent financing.\n\n\"How this is specifically designed, we are examining for each segment and with a view to the respective business model carefully,\" a company spokesperson said in response to a request. It is crucial that the financing matches the business model of the respective company and supports its independence.\n\nFor TK Accelis, the chosen financing is an efficient instrument that harmonizes very well with the business. The available financing room for maneuver develops: in stronger market phases, it can grow, in weaker phases, it can decrease accordingly. \"This enables needs-based financing.\"\n\nThe financing model chosen by the corporation is called \"Asset-Based Lending,\" or ABL for short - and works differently than a classic corporate loan. What is decisive is not so much the expectation of which profits a company will generate in the future.\n\nThe banks mainly look at which assets are available for utilization. In the case of the material distributor Accelis, these are primarily receivables from customers and inventory levels. Depending on how much of this is recognized as valuable, a so-called \"borrowing base\" is created - and with it, the amount that the company can actually call up.\n\nBanks regularly monitor these securities. For Accelis, this is fundamentally obvious. The company handles enormous goods flows, maintains around 380 locations in more than 30 countries, and generated sales of around €11.4 billion in the past fiscal year. Around 15,500 employees supply around 250,000 customers.\n\nIn such a balance sheet, there are significant inventories and receivables that are suitable for secured financing. The price of financial independence For Thyssenkrupp, this is a decisive advantage: the parent company does not have to reserve billions of euros in liquidity for each independent division.\n\nInstead, the subsidiaries are to use their own assets to create credit space. The financing thus follows the separation of the old corporation. So far, the Thyssenkrupp subsidiaries can supply themselves with money from the group's common cash pool.\n\nWith the spin-off, this access ends. Company subsidiaries such as TK Accelis need their own financing. Thyssenkrupp could give the division billions from the group's cash, but then the money would be missing from the parent company - and the subsidiary would remain financially dependent on it.\n\nExactly that is supposed to end with the independence. However, the greater financial independence also has a downside. These are the risks: With Asset-Based Lending, assets such as inventories or outstanding customer receivables serve as collateral for loans.\n\nThese values cannot then be used again for other financing. The financial scope of the future independent divisions is thus restricted. In addition, the amount of money a company can actually call up depends on how high the banks value these securities.\n\nIf inventory levels lose value or receivables are considered less valuable, the available credit line can quickly shrink. This can become a problem precisely when a company is already under pressure and needs additional liquidity - precisely in a crisis.\n\nThe new financing is unlikely to be cheap. The rating agencies certify Thyssenkrupp only a comparatively weak creditworthiness: Moody's rates the corporation with Ba3, S&P with BB. Both ratings are below the so-called investment grade - that is, the threshold above which companies are considered solid enough for safe bonds from the perspective of many investors.\n\nReasons for this include the low profitability, the volatile steel and automotive business, and high costs for restructuring and investments. Thyssenkrupp must therefore offer investors higher interest rates to raise money through bonds. Although the assets deposited with Asset-Based Lending reduce the risk for the banks, the interest rates ultimately depend not only on the value of the securities but also on the creditworthiness of the financing company.",
  "summary": "Thyssenkrupp plans to finance the restructuring through new lines of credit from its subsidiaries, secured with assets. This can bring liquidity - but it also carries risks.",
  "key_points": [
    "Thyssenkrupp adopts unconventional financing model, similar to financial holding company",
    "Separate business units funded with their own credit lines and collateral",
    "Asset-Based Lending model risks declining asset values and higher interest rates"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}