Brussels, 03/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has given its clearance to the acquisition by Usinor SA of a 55% stake in the Italian steel company, Tubisud Italia SpA. The operation will strengthen the presence of the Usinor group on the Italian markets for the production of organically coated steel sheet and the distribution of steel through steel service centres, but will not significantly reduce competition, says the European Executive.
Usinor is one of the European Union's largest steel producers. The French company announced its intention early this year to merge with the Luxembourg and Spanish companies, Arbed and Aceralia, with a view to creating the world's biggest steel group, provisionally called NewCo. Tubisud belongs to the Abate group and operates an organic coating line for steel strip and a steel service centre. Usinor plans to acquire 55% of Tubisud"'s shares from the Abate Group. The latter is a relatively small operator on the two markets concerned. It holds a share below 5% on the Community market for organically coated sheet and on the Italian market for the distribution of steel products through the service centre intermediary. Although Usinor is a larger operator, the combined market shares will be below 35% and 15% for organically coated strip and distribution through steel service centres respectively. The Commission considers the planned operation will therefore not significantly change the competitive conditions on either of the markets.