ThyssenKrupp Sells Safway Unit To Odyssey

FRANKFURT (AP) — German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG said Monday it has sold its industrial services unit North American Safway Group to a private equity company based in New York, Odyssey Investment Partners LLC.

Thyssen, headquartered in Duesseldorf, did not disclose financial details.

Safway, based in Waukesha, Wisconsin and Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, rents and erects scaffolding for the commercial construction industry and also provides services for large companies in the energy and industrial sectors.

Safway had sales of more than $700 million in 2008 and a work force of around 5,000 at more than 90 locations across the U.S. and Canada.

"The new owner is very closely acquainted both with the business model and market environment of Safway," Joachim Limberg, the chief executive of Thyssen's materials services business, said in a statement.

"Odyssey attaches great importance to retaining the group in its entirety and further growing it in line with our management strategy. For us this is a true best owner solution," he said.

On Friday, ThyssenKrupp, Germany's largest steelmaker, said it expected a large net loss for its 2008-2009 fiscal year as the company faces a steep decline in steel demand, as well as restructuring and expansion costs.

The company is in the process of building two new steel mills, one in Alabama and one in Brazil.

Shares of Thyssen were 3.4 percent higher at euro24.64 ($37) in Frankfurt morning trading.

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