Thyssenkrupp, Tata Steel sign European steel merger MoU

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp and Indian peer Tata Steel on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to combine their European steel operations in a 50-50 joint venture, the German company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The combination will lead to annual synergies of 400-600 million euros ($480-720 million), Thyssenkrupp said, adding that up to 4,000 jobs would have to be cut in the joint venture, about 8 percent of the joint workforce.

($1 = 0.8328 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)