ArcelorMittal Bids for French Steel Assets of Troubled GFG Alliance

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) (Luxembourg, Luxembourg) is seeking approval from the European Union (EU) to buy the French steel assets of Liberty Steel France, owned by beleaguered tycoon Sanjeev Gupta and his GFG Alliance (London, England) company.

The steel major is hoping to acquire majority shares in the company and scoop up the Ascoval and Hayange steel mills, which sought creditor protection a few months ago when Gupta's GFG Alliance ran into serious financial problems after its main financing partner, Greensill Capital (London), became insolvent. ArcelorMittal has confirmed that it has bid for the assets and claimed that it plans to invest in them. Speaking to Reuters, a spokesperson for Liberty Steel France confirmed it was taking "prudent steps to explore sale options for these businesses" after they faced "a significant reduction in working capital support since the collapse of Greensill Capital."

The EU's antitrust regulators will decide by July 9 whether to clear the proposed deal or open an investigation which could potentially delay matters until the end of the year.

GFG has also put three of its U.K. steel plants up for sale as part of a wider restructuring and has held talks with Credit Suisse about a potential standstill deal over $1.2 billion in debt. GFG owes Credit Suisse $5.2 billion. However, the company is finding it difficult to secure a new lender after the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office last month revealed an ongoing fraud investigation into GFG Alliance.

As reported by Industrial Info, GFG Alliance's subsidiaries are planning about 90 projects, totaling more than $3.3 billion in value, according to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) project database. Many of those projects have been delayed and are in jeopardy of being canceled if GFG cannot solve its financing problems in the long-term. For additional information, see May 10, 2021, article - GFG Alliance Finance Crisis Jeopardizes $3.3 Billion in Steel and Aluminum Projects.

Click on the image at right to view a chart of GFG Alliance projects.

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