A ThyssenKrupp AG spokesman said the company is discussing merging its stainless steel business with Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu.

Following recent speculation, Outokumpu confirmed that preliminary discussions with ThyssenKrupp to evaluate potential strategic options, including a potential business combination of Outokumpu and Inoxum.

It said “These discussions are ongoing and there can be no assurance that any transaction will be proposed or consummated, and if so, what the parameters of such transaction might be.”

Company spokesman Alexander Wilke said in a statement that ThyssenKrupp is still keeping an open mind whether to sell its stainless segment, spin it off into a separate company for shareholders, or have a public stock offering.

The company announced in May that it would seek to divest itself of the more volatile stainless steel unit. In September, it renamed the unit Inoxum.