| Arcelor Mittal buys Mexico's Sicartsa for $1.4bn |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi April 23, 2007 |
| Luxembourg based Arcelor Mittal has finalised the acquisition of Sicartsa, a Mexican integrated steel producer from Grupo Villacero, its proprietary company, for an enterprise value of $1.439 billion. The transaction was earlier announced on December 20, 2006 and was undergoing approvals from US and Mexican competition authorities. Sicartsa, a fully integrated producer of long steel (that primarily produces bars and wires) with an annual production capacity of approximately 2.7 million tonne, is the largest long steel producer in Mexico. It has estimated iron ore reserves of 160 million tonnes that may provide reserves for 30 years at current production rates. Arcelor Mittal, the biggest supplier of steel used in automakers and washing machines in the US, wants to increase its share of North America's construction market and capture Mexican market share. The buy-out is supposed to give it a foothold in a market dominated by Nucor Corp, Gerdau SA and Commercial Metals Co. The acquisition includes Metaver, a mini-mill, Sibasa and Camsa, two rolling mills in Celaya, Guanajuato (Sibasa) and Tultitl |
