Acerinox ends merger talks with Aperam

Acerinox has ended preliminary talks with French stainless flat steelmaker Aperam over the possible combination of businesses, Kallanish learns from a Spanish producer’s note to the national securities market commission CNMV. On 3 June, both companies confirmed having discussions at a very early stage.

“Acerinox informs that the board of the company meeting today – 6 June – has unanimously agreed not to continue with the preliminary talks with Aperam to study a possible corporate operation,” the Spanish-headquartered stainless steel manufacturer says. No other details were disclosed.

According to Spanish analysts, one of the main reasons for not continuing with the possible merger is that the resulting company would exceed 45% of the market share in Europe, which should force the EU to reject the joint venture. The other possibility was that Acerinox and Aperam reduced their production capacity to match with competition authorities’ market share limits, normally set at 40%.

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria