ArcelorMittal Sells Temirtau Operations to Kazakh Government for $286 Million -- Update
December 08 2023 - 8:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Helena Smolak and Pierre Bertrand
ArcelorMittal has sold its steel and mining operations in
Kazakhstan, putting an end to months of negotiations and mounting
pressure from the country's government.
The Luxembourg-based steelmaker, in operation in the country
since 1995, sold its ArcelorMittal Temirtau business to the
Qazaqstan Investment Corp., a state-controlled direct investment
fund.
The company said Friday that it has received $286 million for
the assets and that the deal includes a further $700 million as
repayment of outstanding intra-group debt.
The agreement brings to a close months of negotiations between
the company and the Kazakh government, which were disclosed in late
October after dozens of miners were killed in an incident at the
company's Kostenco coal mine.
The company had said in October that an agreement-in-principle
had been reached for the sale of the company to the state.
The October incident, which claimed the lives of 46 people, was
the latest to affect ArcelorMittal's operations in the country. It
prompted the government at the time to end its cooperation with the
company, according to news reports.
A fire at the company's Kazakhstanskaya mine claimed five lives
in August and, in November 2022, a suspected gas leak and explosion
killed five people at its Lenin coal mine.
ArcelorMittal Temirtau is now controlled by the investment fund
and will be renamed, ArcelorMittal said.
The company added that the sale will have a negative impact on
equity of about $800 million.
The ArcelorMittal Temirtau assets were valued by the company at
$1.8 billion as of Sept. 30, according to the company's latest
financial report.
Write to Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com and Pierre
Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 08, 2023 07:48 ET (12:48 GMT)
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