The European Commission (EC) may oblige Luxembourg-headquartered steelmaker Aperam, which is bidding to buy Outokumpu's Italian stainless steel plant in Terni, to sell other steel assets if it succeeds in the acquisition bid, a commission source said. As previously reported by SteelOrbis, Aperam, a spin-off of ArcelorMittal, teamed up with Italian companies Arvedi and Marcegaglia to place a binding bid last week in the race to buy Terni Acciai Speciali (AST).
Finnish steelmaker Outokumpu has to sell the AST stainless steel mill by May to gain approval from EU competition authorities for the acquisition of Inoxum, ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel branch, as the AST sell-off was part of the approved merger plan.
The market for stainless steel in Europe is already extremely concentrated, and the EC would prefer the entry of a new player, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. "It is not to be given for granted that the Commission will give its authorization to the possible sale of the Terni factory to Aperam" the source said. "A possible solution may well be the imposition of a remedy on Aperam, which already owns several stainless steel mills in Europe," the source added.
Industry sources have also said EU regulators, seeking to avoid anticompetitive market conditions, could make the acquisition more difficult by forcing Aperam to sell assets elsewhere, adopting a similar stance to that adopted in regard of the Outokumpu-Inoxum merger.
Other firms still in the race to buy the plant include U.S. private equity fund Apollo , which also presented a binding bid for the acquisition of the plant last week, and Chinese steelmaker Tsingshan, which placed a non-binding bid, union sources said.