OREANDA-NEWS. Tata Steel has completed the acquisition from SSAB of Sweden of two service centres and 50% of a third service centre in which it already owns 50%.

Tata Steel has acquired SSAB's strip products service centres in Halmstad, Sweden and Naantali, Finland, as well as the remaining 50% stake in Norsk St?l Tynnplater AS, another strip products service centre based in Frederikstad, Norway. Together the three businesses employ about 180 people.

Henrik Adam, Chief Commercial Officer of Tata Steel in Europe, said: "The addition of these service-oriented operations provides an excellent fit with Tata Steel's existing business, given its focus on supplying customers with the increasingly innovative products and services they need to be competitive.

"We have served customers in the Nordic region for many years and there is an increasing requirement in the region for the kinds of advanced strip products Tata Steel makes. These additions to our regional processing capability will help improve the products and services we can offer Nordic customers.

"We are delighted to be welcoming 180 new colleagues who will help us improve the support we already offer consumers of strip products in the Nordic region."

The service centres offer cutting-to-length, slitting and recoiling services to customers in the automotive, construction and electrical supplies industries, as well as in heavy and light engineering.

The acquisitions follow approval from the national competition authorities. SSAB has sold the businesses as a condition of its takeover of Rautaruukki.