FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Activist investor Cevian Capital on Friday said Thyssenkrupp urgently needed a fundamentally new direction after the company announced abandoning plans to hive off its steel business and split up the rest of the conglomerate.

“There can be no historical or political taboos any longer if Thyssenkrupp wants to sincerely tackle underperformance and get the businesses back to growth,” Lars Foerberg, founding partner of Cevian Capital said in a statement.