Germany's ThyssenKrupp names Indian-origin Premal Desai CEO

London: ThyssenKrupp on Friday announced the appointment of Premal Desai as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its steel division to oversee the restructuring of its business following the collapse of a proposed joint venture with Indian steel major, Tata Steel, in Europe.

Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Tata Steel Europe had signed agreements on June 30, 2018, to create a 50:50 joint venture. However, the European Commission had raised concerns over high prices for electrical steel, automotive steel and packaging among others in the event of the merger going ahead.

In May 2019, the two companies announced they were scrapping the plan. The 50-year-old Indian-origin executive, who has been Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG since 2015, will take charge as the Chairman of the Executive Board of the company.

As a former Head of Strategy at ThyssenKrupp AG, Desai will now be in charge of formulating a "sustainable strategy" for the steel division. "Shaping the future of steel is a challenging task. There's a lot to do," said Desai.

"We look forward to tackling this together as management team. The market environment is not easy, but we are in a strong position and have a lot of potential."