The antitrust regulators of the European Union will decide by July 9 to grant permission to the largest metallurgical company ArcelorMittal to purchase two French steel plants owned by Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel. This is stated in the message of the European Commission.
As a reminder, on June 4, ArcelorMittal requested EU permission to buy the majority of Liberty Steel France shares or its assets, the two main ones being the railroad manufacturer Liberty Rail in Hayang and the steel manufacturer Liberty Ascoval in Saint-Saule.
The EU competition supervisor can either authorize a deal with or without conditions, or initiate a four-month investigation if it has serious concerns about market monopolization.
Liberty Steel is part of the Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG). Gupta is struggling to refinance his international network of steel, aluminum and power plants after finance company Greensill filed for bankruptcy in March.
One of the ways to improve his financial situation, Gupta chose the sale of assets. On Monday, the Walloon government of Belgium reported that it is providing a loan to Liberty Steel to enable the company to maintain its metallurgical production in Liege-Dudelange until a reliable buyer is found for the plant.
