The Russian steelmaker Severstal announced on June 30 that it has completed the sale of a 50.8 percent stake in its Italian subsidiary Lucchini S.p.A. for a consideration of €1 to Alexey Mordashov, Severstal's controlling shareholder.
"The transaction will protect the interests of Severstal's shareholders, improve the company's financial stability, provide additional flexibility for the Lucchini S.p.A. sale process and for the negotiation of amendments to the terms of Lucchini's credit agreements," reads Severstal's statement.
Accordingly, as part of the transaction, Severstal retains the right to re-acquire the stake in question for €1 from Mr. Mordashov, who following the closing of the deal becomes the controlling shareholder of Lucchini S.p.A. In addition, any gain Mr. Mordashov may realize on a subsequent sale of this 50.8 percent stake to a third party will be transferred to Severstal.
On May 14, 2010, Severstal announced that as of March 31, 2010, its subsidiary Lucchini S.p.A. was classified as held for sale and was presented as a discontinued operation in the company's accounts. In Q1 2010, Severstal's loss from discontinued operations at Lucchini amounted to $855 million.