Marcegaglia Steel, the Italian industrial holding company of the group led by Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia, has signed two sustainability-linked loans totalling €800 million to support its steelmaking project in Fos-sur-Mer, France. The financing supports what the group describes as its largest-ever industrial investment, worth more than €1 billion.
The two facilities have an 11-year tenor, will be disbursed over the next three years and are 80 percent guaranteed by SACE (Italy's export credit agency) and Bpifrance Assurance Export. The financing includes an incentive mechanism linked to the achievement of specific group ESG targets.
The Fos-sur-Mer project envisages the production of 2 million mt of electric furnace steel and over 3 million mt of hot rolled coils in carbon and stainless steel. Through upstream integration, the group aims to cover 35-40 percent of its slab and coil requirements, strengthening security of supply. “We will be able to produce what will be more difficult to find on the market,” Antonio Marcegaglia said during his speech at the European Steel Forum held in Udine in late October. He added that the group expects to produce its first slab by the first quarter of 2029 and its first coil by the third or fourth quarter of the same year.
The project will use scrap, low-carbon direct reduced iron and nuclear energy. According to Marcegaglia, this combination will enable greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by up to 80 percent compared with traditional production methods.
The banking syndicate includes Intesa Sanpaolo, through its IMI CIB division, BNP Paribas CIB, Crédit Agricole CIB and UniCredit, which hold the main coordination and structuring roles in the transaction. Santander CIB is acting as Additional Mandated Lead Arranger, while BPER Corporate & Investment Banking, Banco BPM and ING Bank are acting as Arrangers. Intesa Sanpaolo and Crédit Agricole CIB are also acting as Agents.
