EU: Commission approves Liberty House Group purchase of part of ArcelorMittal

The European Commission has approved Liberty House Group as a suitable purchaser of several ArcelorMittal steel plants, sold under commitments made by ArcelorMittal in order to buy Ilva. The Commission has also approved the transaction itself under EU merger rules.

In May 2018, the Commission approved the acquisition of Ilva by ArcelorMittal, subject to conditions. In particular, ArcelorMittal was required to sell a large package of steel plant assets to a suitable purchaser. The divestiture was proposed by ArcelorMittal to address the Commission’s concerns regarding effective competition in European hot rolled, cold rolled, and galvanised flat carbon steel markets.

The package of assets that ArcelorMittal chose and committed to divest consists of a number of production sites throughout Europe. These include:

• An integrated steelworks in Galati, Romania;

• An integrated steelworks in Ostrava, Czechia;

• Finishing plants in Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and North Macedonia.

The divested production sites cover the whole value chain, from liquid steel manufacturing to the production of finished flat carbon steel products, including hot rolled, cold rolled, and galvanised steel. Thus, the divestment includes not only finishing lines but capacity for the production of liquid steel at two integrated steelworks that are also able to expand their production.