Arcelor Mittal to sell steel unit in Poland

Arcelor Mittal has decided to sell off a steel unit in Poland. The sale of Huta Bankowa to Alchemia Capital group is the third such sale of a production unit by the company in Europe, and it is aimed at satisfying the directive of the European Commission at the time of the merger between Arcelor and Mittal Steel last year.

The sale of three units has been completed at a total consideration of $ 1-billion. Huta Bankowa, a 100% subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, is located in southern Poland. The business comprises three main divisions: a rolling mill with a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes, a forged rings department with production capacity of 26,000 tonnes, and a service centre, a company statement said.

The company is a specialised producer of merchant bars and sections. For selected products, Huta Bankowa is only producer in Poland and has some 750 employees. Commenting on the deal, Aditya Mittal, CFO, Arcelor Mittal, said: “With this transaction we will have fulfilled all our competition commitments to the European Commission.”

Following Mittal Steel’s bid for Arcelor last year, the European Commission identified competition concerns in relation to sections. In response, the company had committed to dispose of three European medium/heavy section mills, two of which have already been agreed the first being the sale of Stahlwerk Thuringen on December 6, 2006, to Grupo Alfonso Gallardo and the second, on December 13, the sale of Travi e Profilati di Pallanzeno to Duferco.
Source: slam.canoe.ca