Troubled Romanian steelmaker Liberty Galati will seek a strategic investor to acquire its steel mill through a tender in March, said Remus Borza, president of Euro Insol, the company's bankruptcy trustee.
"We will organize an international auction on March 12, and the participation guarantee will be 7%," Ziarul Financiar quotes him as saying.
"The asset valuation was carried out by the Romanian company Darian, which specializes in the valuation of industrial assets and real estate. As part of the sale procedure, 13 investors have already expressed interest in acquiring the plant," he adds.
Among the interested parties are industrial groups from India, China, Turkey, Ukraine and Iraq, as well as the Romanian company UMB Grup, Kallanish notes.
Other potential buyers include JSW Steel and Jindal Group from India, DeLong Steel from China, KMC Steel from Turkey, Galiawa Group from Iraq and Metinvest from Ukraine. The Ukrainian group of companies is already present in Romania after the acquisition of the ArcelorMittal pipe products plant, which was completed in December.
"Liberty Galac" and "Euro Insol" did not respond to "Callanisha" requests for comment by the publication date.
Liberty Galati has amended the previous restructuring plan proposed by two administrators, which was approved by the Galati District Court.
The annual production capacity of the plant is about 2.5 million tons of steel for the construction, naval, oil and gas and energy industries. The plant was acquired by Liberty Steel Group from ArcelorMittal in July 2019.
The plant is part of the Liberty Group and entered into a pre-emptive agreement in March 2024 to avoid bankruptcy. Since then, the plant's operations have been seriously affected.
Last summer, Liberty Galati resumed operations at its steel plant after a hiatus of almost a year.
Author: Adam Smith
Kallanish.com
