Italy to start negotiations on the sale of Acciaierie d’Italia with Azerbaijani consortium

Rome: Italy will start exclusive negotiations with an Azerbaijani consortium on the sale of the steel company Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI), formerly known as Ilva. This is stated in the message of ADI.

The offer of the consortium formed by Baku Steel and Azerbaijan Investment Company was recognized as the best by the members of the steel producer’s commission. As noted, the decision was made after a thorough and in-depth analysis of the applications received for the restart. The process assessed the financial strength of the candidates, the industrial sustainability of the proposals, as well as employment and social benefits.

The Acciaierie d’Italia’s extraordinary commissioners officially sent a request to the Italian Ministry of Enterprise and Production (MIMT) to start negotiations.

ADI was placed under special administration in February last year. Subsequently, the government announced a tender for these steelmaking assets, including the Taranto plant. In January of this year, it was reported that Acciaierie d’Italia had received 10 purchase offers. Three of them were for the entire business, and seven were for part of the assets. In February, Baku Steel and India’s Jindal Steel International raised their preliminary bids for ADI.

In February this year, the commissioners of Acciaierie d’Italia announced plans to reach 3.5 million tons of steel production in 2025. Production will gradually increase after the re-launch of blast furnace No. 2. According to the documents, the Taranto plant produced 2 million tons of steel last year.