Jan 22 2007
Arcelor Mittal has announced today the agreed sale of Huta Bankowa to Alchemia SA Capital Group, as part of Mittal Steel's commitments to the European Commission during the recommended merger of Arcelor S.A. and Mittal Steel N.V.
Huta Bankowa, a 100% subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, is located in Dabrowa Gornicza (Southern Poland). The business comprises three main divisions: a rolling mill, with production capacity of 150,000 tonnes, a forged rings department with production capacity of 26,000 tonnes and a service centre. In 2005, Huta Bankowa generated a turnover of euro81 million. The company is a specialised producer of merchant bars and sections. For selected products, Huta Bankowa is the leading or sole producer in Poland. There are 750 employees.
Following Mittal Steel's bid for Arcelor last year, the European Commission identified competition concerns in relation to sections. In response, the company committed to dispose of three European medium/heavy section mills, two of which have already been agreed: the first being the sale of Stahlwerk Thüringen on December 6, 2006, to Grupo Alfonso Gallardo and the second, on December 13, the sale of Travi e Profilati di Pallanzeno to Duferco. All together, the disposal of those 3 mills has been done for an enterprise value of about USD 1 billion.
Aditya Mittal, CFO Arcelor Mittal, said: "This is an excellent outcome. Huta Bankowa and Alchemia will be a good fit together. With this transaction we will have fulfilled all our competition commitments to the European Commission."