Liberty House mulls stake in Cevital Italian Piombino mill – Report
Reuters, citing two sources close to the matter, reported that Liberty House is considering investing in the troubled Italian Piombino mill as the global market picks up from a slump. As per report “The mill is owned by Algeria's Cevital Group, which has approached British financier Sanjeev Gupta, Liberty's executive chairman, after failing to secure enough financing to upgrade the complex on Italy's west coast.”
Cevital is looking to form a partnership with Liberty to run the plant, but discussions are at a very early stage and the exact terms of any deal are still unclear, the source added.
A spokesman for Liberty House said the group "is interested in looking at any relevant investment opportunity in the steel industry".
Cevital was not immediately available for comment.
The Algerian firm, involved in food, automotive, industrial and logistics sectors globally, bought the Piombino complex in 2014 from what was then Italy's second largest steelmaker, Lucchini. Cevital had presented a 400 million euro investment plan for the plant, one of Italy's main industrial complexes, but it failed to deliver after running into funding difficulties.
A banking source said Piombino needs additional investment of up to $100 million (80 million pounds). The mill is running well below full capacity and might have to shut down completely if it can't secure more money, the banking source said.
The Piombino complex, which employs around 2,000 people, has a total capacity of 2.5 million tonnes annually. A trade union source at the plant put current smelting production at 600,000 tonnes, with the rest of the plant closed. It was declared insolvent in 2012 and placed into special administration, battered by slowing demand and stiff competition from Asia.
Source : Reuters