GFG Alliance buys two bankrupt steel plants in India
2020-02-20 08:23:49 [Print]
British-based tycoon Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance has bought two bankrupt steel plants in India for $60 million.
The privately-held group completed the takeover of Adhunik Metaliks Ltd. and Zion Steel Ltd., GFG Alliance said in a statement on Tuesday, adding to a string of acquisitions in steel and aluminum in recent years.
The GFG deal has been tangled in court actions since 2018 when Adhunik went into liquidation due to sustained losses. The Indian plant posted a pretax loss of 9 billion Indian rupees ($126.19 million) for the year-ended March 2018, according to a financial statement on its website.
"It has been a challenging journey to get us to this stage, but we now look forward to starting work in partnership with all stakeholders to revive these plants and bring employment back," Gupta, who is executive chairman of GFG Alliance, said in the statement.
Adhunik's plant in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, with a coal-fired blast furnace, an electric arc furnace and a power plant, has an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes of crude steel.
Zion Steel is a rolling mill and the two units together have rolling capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year, making products for the automotive, energy and engineering sectors.
The operations, which are currently shut, will be integrated into GFG Alliance's Liberty Steel Group, which was formed last year. Liberty Steel, with annual output of 18 million tonnes, is the world's 17th largest steel producer, based on World Steel Association figures for 2018.
The privately-held group completed the takeover of Adhunik Metaliks Ltd. and Zion Steel Ltd., GFG Alliance said in a statement on Tuesday, adding to a string of acquisitions in steel and aluminum in recent years.
The GFG deal has been tangled in court actions since 2018 when Adhunik went into liquidation due to sustained losses. The Indian plant posted a pretax loss of 9 billion Indian rupees ($126.19 million) for the year-ended March 2018, according to a financial statement on its website.
"It has been a challenging journey to get us to this stage, but we now look forward to starting work in partnership with all stakeholders to revive these plants and bring employment back," Gupta, who is executive chairman of GFG Alliance, said in the statement.
Adhunik's plant in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, with a coal-fired blast furnace, an electric arc furnace and a power plant, has an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes of crude steel.
Zion Steel is a rolling mill and the two units together have rolling capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year, making products for the automotive, energy and engineering sectors.
The operations, which are currently shut, will be integrated into GFG Alliance's Liberty Steel Group, which was formed last year. Liberty Steel, with annual output of 18 million tonnes, is the world's 17th largest steel producer, based on World Steel Association figures for 2018.
