After submitting a series of binding remedies to the European Commission, Outokumpu has been approved for an acquisition of Inoxum. The transaction makes Outokumpu a new global leader in stainless steel and high performance alloys.
“We are excited to start the creation of a new global leader in stainless steel. This transaction is the answer to meet the opportunities and challenges of the stainless steel industry,” said CEO of Outokumpu, Mika Seitovirta in a press release. “Now Outokumpu can achieve significantly improved capacity utilization rates, we will have an expanded presence in growth markets outside Europe and the widest product offering to serve our customers even better. The transaction enables us to achieve annual synergy savings of approximately 200 million euros and efficiencies that neither company could have achieved alone.”
Outokumpu is fully committed to the Inoxum transaction and is targeted to finalize it by the end of 2012.
The approval is subject to the divestiture of Inoxum’s stainless steel mill in Terni, Italy and certain European service centers. Outokumpu will have six months to divest the remedy entities. The divestment process does not prevent Outokumpu from closing the Inoxum transaction by the end of 2012. The company has today started the divestiture process and expects to find many potential buyers for the divestiture target.
