23 Jan 2023 19:42

Serbian investment company Hefestos become owner of TMK's European assets

MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - Serbian investment company Hefestos Capital has acquired the European division of TMK , Hefestos told Interfax.

Following the deal, which was closed late last year, TMK Artrom was renamed Artrom Steel Tubes.

As reported earlier citing the list of affiliates published by TMK, since December 2022 the pipe company does not include its European subsidiaries in the group structure: from December 12, TMK Artrom SA was excluded (it included TMK production assets in Romania, producing about 200,000 tonnes of seamless pipes a year; primary markets - the EU, U.S. and Canada), as well as sales subsidiaries in Germany, Italy and USA - TMK Europe GmbH, TMK Italia s.r.l and TMK Industrial Solutions LLC. Along with the European subsidiaries, Adrian Popescu, CEO and head of the European division of TMK Artrom, Luca Zorzi, head of TMK-Italia, and Michael Christopher, head of TMK Industrial Solutions (which has been selling TMK products in North and South America since 2016) were removed from the list of affiliates effective December 12.

Last spring, TMK founder Dmitry Pumpyanskiy withdrew as a shareholder of the company after being put on the EU sanctions list and control was transferred to the company's management. Pumpyanskiy being subject to sanctions was the reason for the blocking of TMK-Artrom's accounts by Romanian tax authorities, local media reported. In the summer, the funds of TMK's European subsidiary were unblocked.

TMK Artrom is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of industrial seamless pipes, and the company exported nearly 85% of its products to more than 50 countries. The production capacity of TMK-Resita metallurgical plant is 450,000 tonnes of steel products (slabs) per year, while that of TMK-Artrom was 200,000 tonnes of tubular products.