ArcelorMittal hires Bank of America to sell Romanian unit as part of Ilva deal

Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, has hired Bank of America-Merrill Lynch to sell a number of its steel assets, including Romanian unit Sidex Galati, to secure antitrust clearance to acquire Italian company Ilva.

The move is one of concession to EU regulators for its EUR 1.8 billion (GBP 1.6 billion pounds) bid for Italian peer Ilva. As part of the deal, ArcelorMittal offered in March to sell its galvanized steel plant in Italy, alongside units in Romania, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Luxembourg and Belgium.

As reported by Reuters, ArcelorMittal appointed Bank of America-ML to handle the asset sale.

As the European Commission said the steel plants would be sold to buyers who would continue to operate them, it is likely, analysts say, that European and Asian steelmakers will be among the likely buyers.

The EU antitrust watchdog cleared Arcelor’s offer on Tuesday, after receiving feedback from both rivals and customers and clearing concerns that the deal may reduce competition in some flat carbon steel products and trigger an increase in prices for customers in southern Europe.