As of Wednesday, ArcelorMittal's tentative deal to sell its Sparrows Point mill to Esmark for $1.35 billion was still up in the air.
After missing its deadline to sell Sparrows Point on midnight Monday, ArcelorMittal said in a statement that the agreement to sell Sparrows Point to Esmark's international acquisition group, E2 Acquisition Corp., has not yet been terminated. It did say, however, that it is consulting a court-appointed trustee on whether to terminate the agreement.
In the case that ArcelorMittal is unable to consummate the deal with E2, "the trustee will seek a new buyer for Sparrows Point and ArcelorMittal will fully cooperate with this process during which the plant will continue to be operated by ArcelorMittal," the statement from ArcelorMittal spokesman William Steers read.
The US DOJ in February ordered ArcelorMittal to sell Sparrows Point to satisfy antitrust concerns related to the merger of Arcelor and Mittal. The deal to sell Sparrows Point to E2 Acquisition Corp. was approved in September, but was not completed by the original deadline of November 30th as Esmark failed to get financial backing from its international partners. The two parties then agreed to extend the completion deadline until December 10, which came and went with no deal being reached.