In mid April, the Salzgitter Executive Board broke off talks with a consortium of bidders led by the largest Salzgitter shareholder Günter Papenburg regarding a possible takeover offer. Then at the Annual General Meeting on 22 May, the Hanover-based building contractor Papenburg, who holds a 29% stake in the steel group and is represented by the head of Otto M. Schröder Bank, Helmuth Spincke, called for the Salzgitter CEO to be replaced. Gunnar Groebler, whose contract the Supervisory Board had extended until 2029 at the end of 2023, was confirmed at the meeting in Wolfsburg with 55.58% of the valid votes cast.

Papenburg, who last autumn together with the North Rhine-Westphalian recycling dynasty Rethmann had signalled an interest in acquiring at least 45% plus one share, including the shares he already held, criticised Groebler's lack of focus on his duties as Salzgitter CEO. According to Spincke, Groebler is currently a member of around ten supervisory boards and President of the German Steel Federation. The management of Salzgitter AG does not have the time to fulfil these mandates, he argued.

But the state of Lower Saxony, as a major shareholder, has backed Groebler . It has „great confidence in the work of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG and its Chairman“, said a spokesperson for Lower Saxony's Finance Minister and Salzgitter Supervisory Board member Gerald Heere (Green Party) in response to an enquiry. „The challenges in the steel industry are considerable – which makes it all the more important to have experienced and forward-looking leadership that consistently drives the transformation process forward.“ Lower Saxony will remain „a reliable partner of Salzgitter AG“ and help to ensure that the company remains successful in the long term.

Regarding speculation about a possible sale of the filling and packaging systems division KHS by Salzgitter, the spokesperson said that such questions were being discussed internally in the relevant committees. The Bloomberg news agency had reported on the day of the Annual General Meeting, citing unnamed persons, that Salzgitter was at an early stage of deliberations. The division could be valued at up to 1 billion euros in a transaction and could interest private equity firms. The proceeds from a sale could be used to finance a reorganisation of the steel business.

According to Jefferies analysts, who currently recommend holding the Salzgitter share with a price target of 26 euros, the streamlining and simplification of Salzgitter AG's business with its numerous shareholdings should be supported strategically. „We do not believe that KHS receives the higher valuation of a packaging machinery business as a small part of a larger steel business with a lower valuation level", the firm wrote. There are also no recognisable synergies between the steel and packaging machinery businesses. If the valuation is correct, a KHS sale would be positive. Salzgitter shares were trading around 21 euros in late May. A non-binding takeover bid by the bidding consortium had envisaged a price of 18.50 euros per share.