ThyssenKrupp is in talks to sell its Swedish marine defence unit to Saab after failing to reach a deal with Sweden for a new generation of submarines as the country tries to protect its defence manufacturing sector. The companies said on Monday that negotiations over the sale of ThyssenKrupp's Swedish shipyard with operations in Malmo, Karlskrona and Musko to Saab were at an early stage and that more information would follow. Sweden had been seeking ways to share development costs with other potential buyers of its A-26 submarine but failed to agree on commercial terms with ThyssenKrupp, which also builds submarines in a separate business in Germany. Sweden saw the German company as a potential obstacle to the growth of the Swedish business in favour of its German unit.