International Steel Mills

Liberty Steel Aims to be “Global Contender”

July 12, 2019

Liberty Steel is continuing its rapid expansion with completion of the €740 million ($833 million) acquisition of ArcelorMittal’s European assets. The company, owned by Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliances, has been on a worldwide buying spree, including a June purchase of former Bethlehem Steel property Johnston Wire Technologies.

The ArcelorMittal assets include ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia), ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy), ArcelorMittal Dudelange (Luxembourg) and several finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liège (Belgium). The European steel mills have a combined rolling capacity of more than 10 million metric tons per year and employ more than 14,000 people.

“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. We look forward to working together to create a bright and sustainable future for our group and our industry. 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,” said Sanjeev Gupta, GFG executive chairman.

“These are big assets for us, but they’re small for ArcelorMittal. We can devote more time and energy to them to make them work harder,” Jay Hambro, chief investment officer at GFG Alliance, told the Financial Times. “These businesses move us up the scale to being a proper global contender.”

Gupta is now setting his sights on bankrupt British Steel, which was forced into liquidation in May. The operations include four blast furnaces at a 2,000-acre site in Scunthorpe and produce 2.8 million metric tons of steel annually. Products include construction steel, rail, special profile steel and wire rod. The company is continuing operations while a new owner is found. Sources say Liberty would likely replace the blast furnaces with an electric arc furnace to take advantage of domestic scrap supply.

Liberty Steel has submitted a bid for the entirety of British Steel, according to Argus Media. Liberty was thought to be out of the running after failing to secure commitments for investment and loans from the government. JSW and an unnamed Chinese mill are rumored to have submitted bids along with two French buyers interested in TSP Projects, a technical solution company under the British Steel umbrella. Preference is being given to those bidders who wish to purchase the entire operation rather than parts of it, said British Steel CEO Gerald Reichmann.

“I am pleased to say there has been an encouraging level of interest in the sale of our business from a number of bidders,” said Reichmann. “We remain committed to trying to secure the long-term future of the overall business, and we continue to trade and supply our customers as normal during this process.”