The world's leading steel group ArcelorMittal said on Monday the sale for $1.35 billion (934 million euros) of one of its US plants had failed because the buyers had been unable to raise finance. The factory at Sparrows Point in the east of the United States was to have been acquired by a company managed jointly by US groups Esmark and Wheeling Pittsburgh.
But ArcelorMittal, registered in Luxembourg, said in a statement available here that it had cancelled the agreement with the joint entity, called E2 Acquisition Corporation, because the buyers were unable to ensure financing for the deal.
The agreement, announced on August 2, covered the sale of the factory and related assets such as railway facilities near Baltimore. The plant can produce 3.9 million tonnes of raw steel per year.
The agreement was valid initially up to November 30 but ArcelorMittal had extended it to December 11. Esmark and Wheeling Pittsburgh had linked up for the purchase with Brazilian mining group CVRD. The US justice department had decided that ArcelorMittal had to sell the factory as a condition for approving the acquisition of European steel group Arcelor by Mittal.
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