wiredinUSA August 2019

Image: Liberty Steel

Steel deal for European assets

Liberty Steel has acquired seven steel plants and five service centers from ArcelorMittal SA at a cost of around €740 million. Liberty House has acquired the major integrated steel works at Ostrava in the Czech Republic and Galati in Romania as well as rolling mills at Skopje (North Macedonia), Piombino (Italy), Dudelange (Luxembourg) and two plants near Liege in Belgium. The sites employ over 14,000 people.

across Europe, including construction, infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, energy and industrial equipment. A statement from Liberty Steel, which is part of the London-based GFG Alliance, said the deal “makes Liberty Steel one of the top ten producers globally, excluding China, with a total rolling capacity in excess of 18 million tonnes [and] covering a wide range of finished products.” According to Liberty Steel, this is the largest single transaction undertaken by GFG and brings the Alliance’s worldwide workforce to nearly 30,000 across 30 countries. The firm said it aims to boost sales from these sites by around 50 percent over the next three years.

The five service centers are based in France and Italy.

These operations, with combined rolling capacity of over ten million tonnes per year, supply steel to multiple sectors

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wiredInUSA - August 2019