Global steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced that it has submitted an offer together with Italian steel company Marcegaglia for the acquisition of Italian steelmaker Ilva.
The highlights of the offer include investment commitments of over €2.3 billion in addition to the purchase price, the intention to increase production from current levels to six million mt a year by 2018 from the three blast furnaces in operation at present, commitments to build a research and development center in Taranto and to implement new low-carbon steelmaking technologies and the intention to develop Ilva’s product range with high quality products for the automotive, construction and energy segments, and to restore Ilva to the role of leading supplier of steel to the Italian market and beyond.
“We believe the ArcelorMittal and Marcegaglia consortium is the best partner for Ilva. Our managers and engineers have been studying the company for some years and well understand what needs to be done to turnaround the performance and ensure a strong, safe and sustainable future for the employees of Ilva and the people of Taranto. We are confident that we have the right industrial plan, the right environmental plan and the right commercial plan to support the transformation of Ilva,” stated ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi N. Mittal.