Boston, MA 10/22/2013 (wallstreetpr) – ArcelorMittal (ADR) (NYSE:MT), the largest steel maker in the world, has a market capitalization of about $28.36 billion. Over the past 30 days, it has been working on making a heavy deal with a host of smaller steel manufacturers. The overall impact of this busy and tight M & A activity has had a positive impact on the stock of the company. The share has appreciated by close to 12.4% in the past week and has increased by an impressive 25% in the last 90 days. It is very interesting to read about the list of sales and purchases agreements that have been signed by the steel maker.
The company sold its 6.66% stake on October 8 in Turkey-based Erdemir. From this deal, the company rose close to $267 million in cash. On the previous day, (on October 7) the company had signed off on a strategic agreement with Sider, the state-owned steel producer of Algeria. ArcelorMittal has made an agreement to bring its total holdings in the company to 49%, while its previous holding is 70%. According to the deal, Sider will increase its stake to 51% in the Annaba steel plant. The final objective of this deal is to raise the production by 2.2 million metric tons per year by taking in $763 million.
To double the current production of steel, the target date has been set for 2017. The company had entered into preliminary talks with a company in South Africa earlier, on September 27, so as to resolve long pending pricing disputes. Also, these two companies are trying to enter into a new ore supply agreement.
The company is also trying to reduce its net debt from $16.2 billion to $15 billion using the income from the sale of property by the end of this year. The plight of the company is clearly visible as it is into hectic deal making.
