Liberty plans to bring mining & steelmaking biz under one fold

Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta says the merged entity will be the eighth largest outside China

British I ndian steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta plans to consolidate his steelmaking and mining interests into a single company, which he says will emerge as the eighth largest in the world outside China.

Liberty Steel Group will be created as a single entity comprising interests accumulated worldwide by his Gupta Family Group ( GFG) Alliance entity.

“Producing a single set of accounts and single board will make us transparent to customers, suppliers, employers and the financial markets. We will be like a normal listed company for governance — except we are privately owned,” Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta explained.

In July, Liberty Steel announced the completion of its acquisition of seven major steelworks and five service centres across seven European countries from Lakshmi N Mittal led Arcelormittal.

Liberty said the ^740-million deal makes it one of the top 10 producers globally, excluding China, with a total rolling capacity in excess of 18 million tonnes covering a wide range of finished products.

“This is an exciting and important milestone in GFG’S journey. We are extremely proud to welcome thousands of skilled and committed staff into the GFG family and look forward to working together to create a bright and sustainable future for our group and our industry,” said Gupta.

“These businesses will form a key part of our global steel strategy, of building a sustainable steel business, with a fully integrated value chain, from raw materials to high-value finished products that are distributed in high quality markets,” he said.

It came in the wake of a series of acquisitions of assets from around the world as part of the company's wider Greensteel sustainable strategy.

Under the plans, Liberty Steel plans to be carbon neutral by 2030, through a combination of using renewable power for arc furnaces recycling steel, new technology such as hydrogen power in primary steel making , and environmental plans such as reforestation.

Liberty Steel, as part of the GFG

Alliance, is a global group of energy, mining, metals, engineering, logistics, and financial services businesses, headquartered in London, with additional hubs and a presence in around 30 countries worldwide. The latest consolidation plans are expected to eventually lead to a market flotation.

Gupta has so far declined to comment on reports that his company was interested in bidding for Britain’s second-largest steelmaker British Steel, which went into liquidation back in May.