ArcelorMittal has asked for a "friendly" deal for a major steel plant in Italy

ArcelorMittal has offered to sell its stake or become a minority shareholder in an Italian steel mill after Rome moved to place the plant under state supervision, the chief executive said in a letter seen by AFP.
Aditya Mittal is urging Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni for an "amicable solution" to the crisis surrounding the struggling former Ilva plant, one of Europe's largest steel plants.
The letter is dated Jan. 18, the day the Meloni government announced it had taken the first step toward placing the plant under state supervision.
Talks with ArcelorMittal, which owns 62 percent of the shares, have broken down over how to maintain production and secure the thousands of jobs at the plant in the southern city of Taranto.
In the letter, Mittal said he wished to avoid "extreme unilateral action".
He says the government appears to want to end the joint venture with ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, in which state investment body Invitalia has a 38% stake.
To make a "clean break", ArcelorMittal "offered to sell our entire stake to Invitalia for a portion of our cash investment. Although Invitalia declined, this offer remains on the table if the government wishes to consider it," the CEO wrote in English and Italian language.
"Alternatively, we are ready to remain as a minority strategic partner ... until the Italian government takes a long-term decision," Mittal added.
Debt problems
Rome considers the steel plant a strategic asset, but it has long been plagued by financial and environmental problems.
The operating company, called Acciaierie d'Italia, is no longer able to pay many of its suppliers or utility bills, and the plant is at risk of gas cuts.
Italian Enterprise Minister Adolfo Urso said earlier that authorities had no time to waste.
"We have activated the procedure that could lead to a special administration in a few weeks," he said.
"On the other hand, if ArcelorMittal makes proposals that are in line with what the government considers absolutely necessary to protect the plant and resume production, shareholders can obviously discuss it," the minister noted.
The special management will include the appointment of commissioners to manage the company and draw up a rescue plan until a new investor emerges.
Meanwhile, the government said it was ready to guarantee the plant's "current liquidity" with a €320 million loan.
Mittal said that if it stayed, his company would be able to contribute up to a third of the state's contribution to purchase assets in the joint venture to avoid any concerns about state aid.
ArcelorMittal responded to an invitation to tender after the site was last placed under emergency management in 2015, taking over the Ilva group and its 10,700 employees - including 8,200 in Taranto - at the end of 2018. /BGNES