Russian steel

Mittal Steel, the world's largest steel company, is to buy a 93.02% stake in KryvorizhStal from the State Property Fund of Ukraine following a public auction.

Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, Mittal Steel will acquire 3,590,038,755 shares of the share capital of KryvorizhStal for $4.79 billion. The transaction will be financed out of Mittal Steel's own cash resources and credit lines.

KryvorizhStal is the largest carbon steel long products producer in Ukraine with annual liquid steel production of 7.7 million tons and shipments of 6.7 million tons. It also produced 17.1 million tons of iron-ore. In 2004, the company had sales of $1,897 million.

It operates a single integrated steel plant located within a large iron ore mining complex with over a billon tonnes of iron ore reserves. The company is also almost self-sufficient in coke and is predominantly supplied by nearby coal mines.

The deal is expected to close before year-end.