Lakshmi Mittal did not have cold eyes. While it comes to obtain all the necessary permissions to offer Ilva, the Italian number one steel, and its plants can be huge and crumbling of Taranto, in Puglia, the magnate of the steel industry, announced on Friday, October 26 another major acquisition, that of Essar Steel in India.
The creditors ‘ committee of steel manufacturer of india has in effect approved the same day it was taken over by ArcelorMittal. For the group controlled by Mr. Mittal and his family, it was the last decisive step to take before getting the keys to Essar.
This acquisition represents a very large financial betting and industry for ArcelorMittal. The plan endorsed Friday provides, in effect, a first payment of 420 billion rupees (5 billion euros) to compensate the creditors of Essar Steel, and then the injection of 80 billion rupees intended to put the company back on track. In total, the investment must be to reach 500 billion rupees, or 6 billion euros.
Return to the country as a savior of the steel indian
But the movement is first key on the symbolic level : with Essar Steel, Mr Mittal is finally back in India. A country where he was born, in a village in Rajasthan, in 1950, and where he grew up, but he was forced to leave in 1976.
This year, the indian government has limited the private investment in the steel, Mr Mittal, then quite a young man, is party to develop a factory in Indonesia. The beginning of an impressive career. She brought him to buy very many blast furnaces around the world, to put hands on the former flagship of the French Arcelor, and to become a world leader in the steel industry.
Today, it is as the saviour of the steel indian that he made his return in the country of which he kept the nationality. As Essar Steel, one of the most important companies in the sector, goes wrong. The company belonged until…