State-owned Invitalia inks deal with ArcelorMittal to take control of ILVA

State-owned Invitalia has reached a deal with ArcelorMittal that will pave the way for the Italian government to become the main shareholder of troubled steel plant ILVA, the two companies said in separate statements late on Thursday. is to transform the former Ilva of Taranto into the largest "green" steel production plant in Europe," Invitalia said.

State-owned Invitalia has reached a deal with ArcelorMittal that will pave the way for the Italian government to become the main shareholder of troubled steel plant ILVA, the two companies said in separate statements late on Thursday. Under the deal Invitalia, which is wholly owned by Italy's Treasury, will pay 400 million euros ($486.20 million) for joint control of ArcelorMittal vehicle AM Investco.

In a second step, Invitalia will invest up to 680 million euros by May 2022 to raise its stake to 60%. The agreement also foresees a series of environmental and industrial investments, including a plan to de-carbonise Europe's largest steel plant by activating an electric furnace capable of producing up to 2.5 million tonnes of steel per year.

"The objective of the investment plan ... is to transform the former Ilva of Taranto into the largest "green" steel production plant in Europe," Invitalia said. The agreement will also make it possible to keep all of the 10,700 workers employed at the plant, it added.

The industrial plan targets ILVA reaching an overall steel production of 8 million tonnes in 2025, ArcelorMittal added. The deal brings to an end months of wrangling between Rome and the steel giant which took control of ILVA in 2018.

The future of ILVA has been a headache to successive Italian governments, which have struggled to balance the need to clean up the polluted site in the southern city of Taranto and safeguard thousands of jobs in the underdeveloped south. ArcelorMittal previously announced it was pulling out of the 2018 takeover agreement after parliament scrapped a guarantee of legal immunity from prosecution over environmental risks during a clean-up of the heavily polluting factory.

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