Severstal to buy US-based Sparrows Point steel mill from Arcelor Mittal

RIA Novosti | 09 May, 2008
Russia's largest steel producer Severstal said Thursday it had finalised a deal to purchase the US-based Sparrows Point steel mill from ArcelorMittal for $810 million.

The US Department of Justice demanded in February 2007 that ArcelorMittal sell Sparrows Point, located in Baltimore County, Maryland, in a bid to prevent the monopolisation of the market after the merger of Mittal Steel and Luxemburg Arcelor.

It then approved in mid-April Severstal's bid to purchase the steel mill.

"The purchase of Sparrows Point adds to our portfolio of American assets. The plant already has significant value and possesses the potential for growth," Severstal CEO Alexei Mordashev earlier said.

ArcelorMittal was created in 2006 as a result of a merger between Mittal Steel owned by India-born tycoon L.N. Mittal and Luxembourg Arcelor with Mittal holding a controlling interest.

It is now the world's largest steel producing company and controls 10 percent of global steel output.