Feb. 2007 — Arcelor Mittal recently announced the sale of Huta Bankowa to Alchemia SA Capital Group, as part of Mittal Steel’s commitments to the European Commission for the recommended merger of Arcelor SA and Mittal Steel NV.

Huta Bankowa, a 100% subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, is located in Southern Poland. The business comprises three main divisions: a 150,000 tonne/year rolling mill, a 26,000 tonne/year forged rings department, and a service centre. The company is a specialized producer of merchant bars and sections. For selected products, Huta Bankowa is the leading or sole producer in Poland. There are 750 employees.

Following Mittal Steel's bid for Arcelor last year, the European Commission identified competition concerns in relation to sections. In response, the company committed to dispose of three European medium/heavy section mills, two of which have already been agreed:

• The sale of Stahlwerk Thüringen on December 6, 2006, to Grupo Alfonso Gallardo
• The sale of Travi e Profilati di Pallanzeno to Duferco.

All together, the disposal of the three mills has been done for an enterprise value of about USD 1 billion.

“This is an excellent outcome. Huta Bankowa and Alchemia will be a good fit together,” said Aditya Mittal, CFO Arcelor Mittal. “With this transaction we will have fulfilled all our competition commitments to the European Commission.”

Arcelor Mittal is the world's largest steel company, with 330,000 employees in more than 60 countries. Arcelor Mittal is a global leader in such major global markets as automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with leading R&D and technology, as well as sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and outstanding distribution networks. An industrial presence in 27 European, Asian, African and American countries exposes the company to all the key steel markets, from emerging to mature, positions it will be looking to develop in the high-growth Chinese and Indian markets.

Arcelor Mittal key pro forma financials for the first nine months of 2006 show combined revenues of USD 65.4 billions, with approximate production capacity of 130 million tonnes a year, representing around 10 per cent of world steel output.