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Johannesburg - ArcelorMittal South Africa (ACL), the South African arm of the world's largest steel producer, on Thursday
said its holding company had terminated discussions regarding a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction.
Sven Lunsche, corporate communications and branding manager at ArcelorMittal South Africa, said the talks had been terminated by the company's holding company due to the current global economic environment.
"Any corporate activity would be difficult in this environment," said Lunsche, adding that the company was still fully committed to concluding a BEE deal.
"A return to financial market stability could see discussions relating to the BEE transaction remerge," Lunsche said.
The company first confirmed it was contemplating a transaction involving the introduction of BEE into ArcelorMittal South Africa in September this year.
"There is no guarantee that the transaction will be forthcoming," ArcelorMittal said at the time, without providing further details.
But the sale of any stake in the company at a South African level would have been rubber-stamped by the company's holding group.
According to the ArcelorMittal South Africa's shareholder analysis, the bulk of the company's stock is held by Mittal Steel Company, which owns 52.7%.
Other foreign shareholders make up 13.9%, while South African
shareholders hold 33.4%, with about 16% being held by the South African government through the Industrial Development Corporation and the Public Investment Corporation.
While the company never clarified the size of the stake it was looking to sell to black investors, the structure of BEE deals typically require all shareholders to contributed a proportionate share of their stake to the pool of shares being sold.
This could dilute existing stakes and may well cut the parent group's stake to less than 52% of the South African subsidiary.
ArcelorMittal South Africa is the country's biggest steel producer, and has operations in Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, Saldanha and Vereeniging.
The company's shares closed 51 cents firmer at R81.50 on the JSE.
- I-Net Bridge