Lakshmi Mittal eyes Bulgarian steelmaker Kremikovtzi
Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is looking to buy Kremikovtzi, the troubled Bulgarian steel maker belonging to his youngest brother and competitor Pramod Mittal, the Bulgarian Economy and Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.
By Agencies |
SOFIA: Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is looking to buy Kremikovtzi, the troubled Bulgarian steel maker belonging to his youngest brother and competitor Pramod Mittal, the Bulgarian Economy and Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.
A delegation from ArcelorMittal headed by board member Michel Wurth met with Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov on Wednesday.
The Kremikovtzi steel mill is Bulgaria's largest and is situated outside Sofia. It accounts for nearly 10 percent of Bulgarian exports but is currently facing deep financial problems. Workers demonstrated earlier this week to protest delays in their wage payments.
Ukrainian billionaires Konstantin Jivago and Rinat Akhmetov, Russian group Novolipetsk and its chief Vladimir Lisin, as well as US group US Steel have all expressed an interest in Kremikovtzi.
Investment bank Merrill Lynch, which is in charge of selling the company, told the Bulgarian government, which holds a minority stake in the steel plant, two weeks ago that seven candidates were in the running and that negotations would begin presently.
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Pramod Mittal's Global Steel acquired a 71-percent stake in Kremikovtzi in August 2005 when it bought the plant's former Bulgarian owner Finmetals Holding. Sofia holds a stake of 25 percent in Kremikovtzi and the remaining 4.0 percent is held by private investors. Download
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