Liberty Steel, part of British Indian steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's global GFG Alliance, on Monday announced the completion of its acquisition of seven major steelworks and five service centres across seven European countries from Lakshmi N Mittal-led ArcelorMittal.
Liberty said the 740 million euro deal makes it one of the top 10 producers globally, excluding China, with a total rolling capacity in excess of 18 million tonnes covering a wide range of finished products.
"This in an exciting and important milestone in GFG's journey. We are extremely proud to welcome thousands of skilled and committed staff into the GFG family and look forward to working together to create a bright and sustainable future for our group and our industry," Gupta said.
"These businesses will form a key part of our global steel strategy, of building a sustainable steel business, with a fully integrated value chain, from raw materials to high-value finished products that are distributed in high quality markets," he said.
The company said the acquisition marked the largest single transaction undertaken by GFG and brings the Alliance's worldwide workforce to nearly 30,000 across 30 counties.
The seven sites, which today became part of Liberty, employ over 14,000 people and include 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 service centres are based in France and Italy.
Jon Bolton, Liberty Steel's Global Business Development Director added: "These sites are well-positioned, efficient operations with competitive cost structures and we intend to build upon these strong foundations through a combination of judicious investments, changes to the production profile and synergies with our wider group."
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