Sajjan Jindal, the millionaire owner of Indian steel producer JSW Steel, has stated that he has offered less than $100 million to buy the steel complex of Italian steelmaker Lucchini in Piombino, Tuscany, Italy, while not wanting to take on any of the company's debts, as reported by Reuters.
JSW Steel has put in a binding bid for three re-rolling mills belonging to the insolvent Italian company. "Lucchini is going to be restructured. The blast furnace facility and steelmaking facility is going to be shut down. We will supply basic steel from India, which will be produced into high-quality steel in Lucchini and sold into that market," Mr. Jindal stated, acknowledging that the latest binding offer only concerns Lucchini's three re-rolling mills.
On September 11, Lucchini announced that it had received a new binding offer from JSW Steel and that Lucchini representatives were examining the offer.
After being declared insolvent, Lucchini, Italy's second-largest steel plant by capacity, was in late 2012 placed under special administration, a procedure designed to save large companies and avoid big job losses. Russian steel producer Severstal had acquired Lucchini, previously owned by the family of the same name, in 2005. Severstal has since sold a majority stake in Lucchini to Severstal owner, Russian businessman Alexei Mordashov, in order to facilitate the sale of Lucchini. The disposal of the troubled Italian steelmaker has proven very difficult in the context of falling steel prices and difficult economic conditions.
