According to Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, global steel giant
ArcelorMittal in partnership with Italian steelmaker
Marcegaglia have presented their long-awaited offer - although not binding for now - for the troubled Italian Taranto-based steelmaker
Ilva. The La Repubblica report states that the offer does not contain economic indications, while it confirms that the current workforce would be maintained, while also confirming plans to invest in the group for the revival of production activity and as well as the intention to buy
Ilva in its entirety.
In the coming weeks, an additional offer is expected from Italian steelmaker Arvedi, although it is not clear whether the group will act alone or with a foreign partner. In any case, both
ArcelorMittal-
Marcegaglia and Arvedi would be in a partnership with Italian state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
With an offer in hand, the special commissioner of
Ilva, Piero Gnudi, would have a new card to play when dealing with the banks, with whom he met last Friday, November 14, asking them to proceed with the second tranche of the loan to
Ilva. In fact, the presence of a bid may be necessary to convince the banks to grant
Ilva another €125 million after the €125 million already disbursed in mid-September. The new tranche of the loan would allow the commissioner to deal with a series of deadlines in December (payment of salaries, performance bonuses, etc.), and to provide additional support for the company's suppliers, which in October had received €34 million in payment for overdue invoices.
Mr. Gnudi said that the maintenance of jobs and the environmental upgrading of the Taranto-based plant are conditions that
Ilva's buyer(s) will have to respect. The total costs of improving environmental standards at
Ilva to comply with the Italian government's Integrated Environmental Authorization are expected to reach €1.8 billion. The objectives of the Integrated Environmental Authorization are expected to be 80 percent completed by next July and fully completed by August 2016. Any potential buyer of
Ilva will have to keep this in mind.
Previously,
ArcelorMittal had asked that all the problems relating to
Ilva (such as debts) should be concentrated in a "bad company" and that all business and employment should be brought together in a new "good company" that would become part of the international network of the
ArcelorMittal group.