Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel will be warned this week that EU antitrust regulators could veto their planned European steel joint venture unless they offer concessions, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The European Commission is expected to send a charge sheet known as a statement of objections to the companies, the people said. Such documents set out serious competition concerns which companies have to address with specific concessions or see their deal blocked.

“As soon as the statement of objections has arrived, we will thoroughly examine the Commission’s arguments,” a spokesman for Thyssenkrupp said, adding that the group continued to be confident that the transaction could be closed in early 2019.

The joint venture, announced in June last year, is the biggest shake-up in Europe’s steel industry in more than a decade. To be named Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel, the entity will have about 48,000 workers and about €17 billion ($19.2 billion) in sales. – Reuters