London, Ostrava July 1, 2019 – Today ArcelorMittal has completed the divestment of the Ostrava steelworks, which is bought, with the approval of the European Commission, by Liberty Steel, part of the global GFG Alliance owned by a British citizen Sanjeev Gupta. Today Liberty Steel has taken over the control of the Ostrava steelworks.

“The sale of the steelworks has been successfully completed and I would like to thank all the employees who, despite the long waiting for the new owner, have worked with immense commitment to meet our goals. The name of the company will change, but the steel production, which started nearly 70 years ago, will continue,” said Ashok Patil, CEO of Liberty Ostrava.

After the registration in the Commercial Register, the name of the company will change to Liberty Ostrava a.s. The change also applies to all subsidiaries of the Ostrava steelworks. The first step of the new owner will be to engage with the employees and to initiate a 100-day programme with a view to look at current business issues and determine the future development plan for the steelworks.

The sale of the Ostrava steelworks started last year when ArcelorMittal announced its intention to acquire the Italian company Ilva, for which the EC demanded a remedy consisting in the divestment of several ArcelorMittal´s European businesses. In April this year, the EC approved Liberty as a suitable buyer and the sale and purchase agreement was signed after less than a quarter of a year.

Names of companies in the new Liberty Ostrava group after the entry in the Commercial Register:

Liberty Ostrava a.s. is an integrated steel company with a production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes of steel. Currently, it annually produces c. 2.2 million tonnes of steel, which is mainly used in construction, machinery and oil &gas industries. The company is a domestic leader in the manufacture of road barriers and tubes. In addition to the Czech market, it supplies its products to more than 40 countries around the world. Together with its subsidiaries in Ostrava, the company has 6300 employees. The 2018 average monthly income was CZK 39,180. As a result of the above-standard greening, the company manufactures its products with minimum possible environmental footprint. The company is part of Liberty Steel, a global steel and mining business, employing approximately 28,000 people on 6 continents based across more than 200 sites, with raw steel capacity of more than 18 million tonnes a year, which is part of GFG Alliance.

Attachment: Introduction of Liberty Steel

  News release .pdf

Liberty Ostrava a.s.
Barbora Černá Dvořáková
Head of Communicaions
T +420 595 683 390
M +420 606 774 346
barbora.cerna-dvorakova@libertysteelgroup.com