Europe's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal refused to buy out Polish electricity producer Tauron Polska Energia's share in a joint venture between the two Tameh Holding companies, despite the latter's claims.
On January 2, Tauron Polska Energia reported that ArcelorMittal had offered to buy it stake in Tameh Holding, including energy supplier Tameh Czech, for more than 137 million euros ($150 million). ArcelorMittal and Tauron currently own 50% of Tameh each.
ArcelorMittal disputes Tauron's claim and "has not acquired any of Tauron's shares in Tameh Holding," an ArcelorMittal spokesman said.
Tameh Czech filed for bankruptcy in December after months of non-payments from its only customer, Czech steelmaker Liberty Ostrava. Liberty, part of the Gupta Family Group alliance, won creditor protection from Tameh Czech in November.
Tameh Czech claims Liberty owes it more than €81 million for power supply to Ostrava and has not received payment since June 2023. On January 3, a Tameh spokesman confirmed that Liberty had still not paid it and was therefore unable to supply any energy. to Ostrava. Tameh is the sole supplier of electricity to the Ostrava Nuclear Power Plant. Liberty has said it intends to restart its Ostrava blast furnace this month, but this will not be possible without power supply.
ArcelorMittal is currently involved in separate legal issues with Liberty as it seeks payment of an arbitration award of 140 million euros related to Liberty's acquisition of certain of its assets in 2019, including plants in Ostrava in the Czech Republic and Galati in Romania. The company recently hired business intelligence consultancy Alaco to help with its case, according to court papers submitted to the Singapore High Court. ArcelorMittal successfully obtained an asset freezing order to prevent Liberty from transferring up to €140 million worth of Singapore assets outside the company.
Sources suggest the legal battle could play a role in any potential bid for Tameh Holding. Liberty wants to restructure its contract with Tameh Czech to “standard business terms,” purchasing power at market prices rather than the flat fee that was previously in place, the company said in December. Liberty knew about the structure of the deal when it bought Ostrava and declined to buy Tameh Czech.
A representative for GFG Alliance declined to comment.
