ArcelorMittal aborts plan to acquire struggling Italian group Ilva

Steel giant ArcelorMittal said Monday it was pulling out of the purchase of struggling Italian group Ilva after Italy's parliament removed a legal protection deemed necessary to undertake crucial environmental work without criminal liability.

Italian government to summon ArcelorMittal over Ilva contract

The Italian government will summon representatives of ArcelorMittal for a meeting following the group's decision to pull out of a contract to take over struggling Italian steel maker Ilva, a government source said on Monday.

"The government will not give its consent to closing Ilva. There is no legal basis for the contract to be cancelled. We will summon Mittal to Rome immediately," the source said, following a meeting of ministers involved in handling the case.

Ilva's Taranto site in southern Italy is at the centre of a huge legal case in which experts cited by prosecutors have said that of the 11,550 people who died in the area over seven years, 7,500 were killed by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancers linked to toxic emissions.