Liberty House gets green light to take over ArcelorMittal’s Romanian unit

The European Commission (EC) on April 17 announced that it approved British group Liberty House Group as a suitable buyer of several ArcelorMittal steel plants, including ArcelorMittal Galati (formerly Sidex Galati). ArcelorMittal committed to sell the plants to buy Italian steel producer Ilva, one of the biggest in Europe.

The Commission has also approved the transaction itself under EU merger rules. Liberty House is a steel group controlled by British-Indian investor Sanjeev Gupta.

In May 2018, the Commission approved the acquisition of Ilva by ArcelorMittal, subject to conditions. In particular, ArcelorMittal was required to sell some of its steel plants to a suitable purchaser. Liberty House Group then reached an agreement with ArcelorMittal to buy those plants.

In November, Gupta said he planned to increase the Romanian plant’s production by over 50% in the next period, to 3 million tons per year. The group has an investment plan of EUR 330 million for the next 3-5 years.

“We have the clear intention of increasing the annual production from 2 million tons of steel to 3 million, restart a furnace and modernize the rolling mills,” Gupta said in an interview with local Ziarul Financiar.

(Photo source: the company)