Romanian flat steel plant Liberty Galati will be put up for auction on 12 March following approval of its restructuring plan by the Galati Court, according to insolvency administrators Euro Insol and CITR.
The sale price will be EUR690 million, according to Romanian media reports.
A total of 13 potential investors have expressed interest in acquiring the plant. Market participants named the following as potential buyers:
- Ukraine’s Metinvest. The company previously had been considering acquisition of another Central European mill – Dunaferr as part of its expansion in the EU.
- Indian steelmaker JSW Steel
- Turkish flat steel service centre KMC Steel
- India’s Jindal Group. In September, the company submitted a non-binding offer for German Thyssenkrupp’s Steel Europe division
- Iraq’s Galiawa Group
- Romania’s UMB. The company recently acquired ArcelorMittal Hunedoara, a Romania-based long steel producer
- European distributor and trading company Steel Mont. It had already proposed a toll processing agreement and potential acquisition of Liberty Galati.
Romanian authorities decided in mid-September to establish an inter-ministerial committee to preserve state interests in the Liberty Galati steelworks and to prevent bankruptcy.
Liberty Galati has remained idled since a failed restart attempt in June last year. The steelworks’ capacity is 3 mt/y.
