ThyssenKrupp gets green light to buy AST and VDM

Italy's Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) and Germany's Outokumpu VDM (VDM) will soon be falling into the hands of the German steel giant ThyssenKrupp AG (TK). On 12 February, the European Commission validated this transaction that constitutes the last of the remedies it imposed when approving the merger of Outokumpu (Finland) and Inoxum, TK's stainless steel business, on 7 November 2012. Its authorisation for the creation of a European steel giant was conditional in particular on the sale of AST, an…