SALZGITTER/MÜLHEIM (dpa-AFX) - The Salzgitter steel group is selling its subsidiary Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Group (MST) based in Mülheim an der Ruhr. The manufacturer of seamless stainless steel and nickel-based tubes is being sold to the Italian company Cogne Acciai Speciali for a price of 135 million euros, Salzgitter announced on Tuesday. The transaction is still subject to the approval of the authorities.

"Cogne offers MST and its employees further entrepreneurial opportunities in the new group and is a renowned industrial partner," said Salzgitter CFO Burkhard Becker according to the press release. Cogne produces various metals for the automotive and energy industries, among others. Salzgitter is continuing its portfolio management with the sale of MST - this also includes the sale of companies that do not belong to the defined development areas, the statement continued.

MST joined Salzgitter AG in 2000 together with Mannesmannrohren-Werke. At that time, the Mannesmann Group was taken over by the British telecommunications company Vodafone and subsequently broken up. According to its own information, MST has around 1000 employees worldwide, 260 of whom work at the two German sites in Remscheid and Mülheim in North Rhine-Westphalia. There are further locations in France, Italy and the USA./fjo/niw/DP/jha