BALTIMORE (AP) - A federal judge has appointed a trustee to sell Mittal Steel Co. NV's Sparrows Point mill near Baltimore to settle antitrust concerns.
The trustee, Joseph G. Krauss, may satisfy his responsibility by completing the planned sale of the mill to a global investment group led by privately held domestic steel distributor Esmark Inc., of Chicago Heights, Ill., according to the order filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Completing the deal would clear the way for Mittal's planned $41 billion acquisition of Arcelor SA of Luxembourg, creating the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal. The Justice Department blocked their merger by insisting in February that Mittal sell Sparrows Point to preserve competition in the market for tin-plated steel in the eastern United States.
The parties haven't announced a price for the mill.
Esmark's foreign partners are Industrial Union of Donbass Corp., a Ukrainian holding company with interests in iron works and heavy engineering, and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a Brazilian mining company also known as CVRD.
Krauss, a partner in the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson, has a practice devoted entirely to antitrust and economic regulation, with particular emphasis on merger and acquisitions counseling, according to information posted on the law firm's Web site.