Acciaieria Arvedi-led Consortium Bids for Italy's Ilva Steel Plant
02 July 2016 - 1:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Italian steelmaker Acciaieria Arvedi SpA has partnered
with Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and Italian
businessman Leonardo Del Vecchio to bid for the troubled Ilva steel
plant, an Ilva spokesman said Friday, pitting two consortia against
each other for control of The Europe's largest steel plant.
The Italian government last year took control of the
administration of the loss-making plant in the southern Italian
city of Taranto, with a view to saving the plant's roughly 16,000
jobs and improve its pollution record.
Earlier this year it announced plans to sell the flat steel
plant, a move that attracted 29 expressions of interest by
February. It then asked for formal offers by June 30.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, said Thursday it
had partnered with Italian steelmaker Marcegaglia to make an offer
for the plant. It created a consortium called Investco Italy Srl
which is 85% owned by Arcelor and 15% owned by Marcegaglia.
Arvedi, which specializes in manufacturing finished flat steel
products used in cars and appliances, said it has formed a
consortium called AcciaItalia to bid for Ilva. Arvedi said it would
be the plant operator with a 22.2% stake while Cassa Depositi and
DelFin Sarl, the investment vehicle for the family of Mr. Del
Vecchio would own 44.5% and 33.3% stakes respectively.
Ilva is the EU's fourth-largest flat steel producer after
ArcelorMittal, Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG, and India's Tata Steel
Ltd, accounting for 7% E.U. flat steel production, according to
Jefferies. The plant has a production capacity of 9.1 million tons
of steel a year but is currently operating at 4.8 million tons a
year.
Now the two bids have been received, the Italian government will
spend the next 120 days reviewing the environmental aspects of the
offers. It will then provide more clarity on the next steps of a
multi-stage process that doesn't have a formal end-date.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 01, 2016 10:46 ET (14:46 GMT)
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