Liberty subsidiary takes over Polish plate mill lease

Liberty Steel has, through subsidiary Corween Investments, taken over the lease of Huta Czestochowa (HCz) and plans to participate in next month’s tender to buy the Polish plate mill.

The subsidiary will soon be renamed to Liberty Czestochowa.

“Corween Investments (to be renamed LIBERTY Częstochowa) can confirm that it has taken over the current lease for Huta Czestochowa, which is due to run until mid-2021, from the plant’s Administrator. LIBERTY can also confirm it will continue to take an active part in the sales process, as determined by the Court,” a Liberty Steel Group spokesperson tells Kallanish.

HCz had previously been leased by Sunningwell Steel Polska since September 2019, after it was declared insolvent under former owner Industrial Union of Donbas (see Kallanish passim).

The latest tender for the sale of HCz will take place on 22 January. The starting price has been set at PLN 190 million ($51m) and bids from those wishing to partake must be submitted by 21 January.

Earlier this year the first tender, which ended without any bidders, had a minimum price of PLN 250m, while in the second tender it was PLN 220m.

Sunningwell Steel Polska won the second tender with a PLN 220m bid. However, in October the court ordered a third sale tender to be held after Sunningwell was adjudged to have failed to come to an agreement to buy the steelworks in the stipulated time. According to Polish law, this rules Sunningwell out from participating in the next tender.

Sunningwell did not respond before deadline to a request for comment on its plans for the upcoming tender. In October it told Kallanish it aimed to find a way to participate in the tender.

Electric arc furnace-based HCz has a 1.2 million tonnes/year capacity of heavy plate.