Posted on 17 Oct 2018
Liberty House Group remains an acquisitive company, Sanjiv Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty owner GFG Alliance, told Kallanish on the sidelines of the worldsteel conference in Tokyo Tuesday. It is looking to invest further, including in the Asian steel industry, but Gupta would not comment on recent reports of Liberty bidding for assets in Belgium and Luxembourg however.
While refusing to discuss specifics, Gupta said the company was actively looking for opportunities. In steel this could mean further acquisitions, while in energy this would mainly be greenfield investments.
Reports emerged this week that Liberty had submitted a bid for ArcelorMittal assets in Belgium and Luxembourg. ArcelorMittal has put up for sale its Dudelange site in Luxembourg, as well as hot-dip galvanising lines 4 and 5 at Flémalle. It is also divesting hot-rolled pickling, cold rolling and tin packaging lines at Tilleur, all of which are in Liège, Belgium.
In Asia meanwhile, Tata Steel has said there is no set plan to sell its NatSteel unit in Singapore or Tata Steel (Thailand). Reports had emerged that Tata Steel had hired a bank to search for a buyer for the two steelmakers. In the financial year ending March 2018, Tata Steel Thailand shipped 1.217 million tonnes of steel, down from 1.262mt the previous year. It earned profit after tax of THB 455 million ($13.66m), up from THB 214m a year earlier. NatSteel has a steelmaking capacity of around 2m t/y and mainly supplies rebar.
Gupta notes that it is his company's policy to make no comment on any reports of acquisitions until they are actually closed.
