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Algiers - Steelmaker ArcelorMittal [JSE:ACL] will sell a 21% stake in its Algerian unit at a nominal price to the Algerian state, allowing the country to become a majority shareholder, the state news agency quoted the prime minister as saying on Tuesday.
There had been speculation about a government plan to take control of the operation - the El Hadjar plant in the eastern town of Annaba - but this is the first time a government official has confirmed such talks.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said the government would soon hold a total 51% stake in the venture for a "symbolic" price, according to the official APS news agency.
The agency gave no further details on the price and ArcelorMittal's officials at the unit were not immediately available for comment.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, bought a 70% stake of the previously fully state-owned plant in 2001, with state-owned Algerian steelmaker Sider retaining the remaining 30%.
The plant has been hit by a series of strikes over pay rises in the past months. It produced 580 000 tonnes of flat and long steel in 2012.
The government is planning to increase output to up to 2.2 million tonnes per year, APS said. It is currently 580 000 tonnes.
- REUTERS
There had been speculation about a government plan to take control of the operation - the El Hadjar plant in the eastern town of Annaba - but this is the first time a government official has confirmed such talks.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said the government would soon hold a total 51% stake in the venture for a "symbolic" price, according to the official APS news agency.
The agency gave no further details on the price and ArcelorMittal's officials at the unit were not immediately available for comment.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, bought a 70% stake of the previously fully state-owned plant in 2001, with state-owned Algerian steelmaker Sider retaining the remaining 30%.
The plant has been hit by a series of strikes over pay rises in the past months. It produced 580 000 tonnes of flat and long steel in 2012.
The government is planning to increase output to up to 2.2 million tonnes per year, APS said. It is currently 580 000 tonnes.
- REUTERS
