General News - 2009 July 9

The European Commission announced here on Wednesday that it has cleared the proposed acquisition of Dutch company Noble European Holdings, an arm of Noble International of the US, by ArcelorMittal. After examining the operation, the commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it, EuAsiaNews reported. Owned by Indian-origin LN Mittal, ArcelorMittal is a global company active in the production, distribution, marketing and sale of steel products and, to a lesser extent, of first transformation steel products. ArcelorMittal is also active in the mining business. Noble European Holdings is the holder of several companies producing tailor-welded blanks (TWBs). TWBs are largely used in the motor vehicle industry and are produced by cutting to size and welding together various individual pieces of uncoated and/or coated sheet, enabling complex shapes embodying steel of different grades and thickness to be produced. The commission's investigation showed that the parties' activities in the TWB business do not overlap in the EEA and would lead only to a small overlap in TWB activities worldwide. As Noble European Holdings already receives almost all of its supplies from ArcelorMittal, the commission's investigation confirmed that the merger would not lead to any significant change in the EEA market structure and the merged entity would continue to face several competitors in the flat carbon steel markets.