Brazilian anti-trust authority Cade has allowed Mexican steelmaker Simec to buy several ArcelorMittal Brazil assets, as part of a deal to avoid market concentration in the Brazilian longs steel market.
Cade has approved the deal with no restrictions, SteelOrbis has learned. However, the list of assets was not disclosed in a document filing made available by Cade late last week. Those might include former ArcelorMittal Brazil long steel mills, including the Cariacica mill in Espirito Santo state, and the Itauna mill in Minas Gerais state. The document filing said Simec’s undisclosed acquisition could help it increase its wire rod output in Brazil.
ArcelorMittal Brazil and Votorantim Siderurgia merged last year. The deal was approved by Cade on Q1 this year. Currently, Votorantim SA only owns the Argentinian and Colombian businesses, as it merged it Brazilian long steel business with ArcelorMittal Brazil last year. As a result of the deal, Votorantim Siderurgia Brazil became a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal Brazil. The holding Votorantim SA has a 15 percent stake of the combined long steel business, which represents 2.99 percent of ArcelorMittal Brazil