Arcelor Mittal said Wednesday it will sell its Stahlwerk ThĂĽringen GmbH long carbon steel business to Grupo Alfonso Gallardo for about $768 million.
The agreement is part of Mittal Steel’s commitments to the European Commission during the recommended merger of Arcelor S.A and Mittal Steel N.V.
SWT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, employs close to 700 and produces steel sections up to 550mm in width used in building and construction.
The facilities are based on steel scrap recycling and combine an electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace, a four-strand continuous caster and a section rolling mill. SWT’s annual production capacity is about 1 million tons.
Following Mittal Steel’s bid for Arcelor the European Commission identified competition concerns in relation to heavy sections. In response, the company committed to dispose of three European medium/heavy section mills: Arcelor’s Stahlwerk Thüringen and Travi e Profilati di Pallanzeno (Italy), and Mittal Steel’s section and bar mill Huta Bankowa (Poland). The divestment process for the two latter assets is underway, Arcelor said.
The closing of the transaction is foreseen to take place in early 2007, subject to European Commission approval and antitrust clearances.