A $1.35 billion deal to purchase the Sparrows Point steel mill has fallen apart, the plant?s owner announced this morning, one week after a self-imposed deadline between the two parties passed.
In a release, plant owner ArcelorMittal said it terminated the deal at the direction of a trustee appointed by the Department of Justice due to buyer and international investment group E2 Acquisition Corp.?s “inability to secure financing.”
The two were set to close the deal on Nov. 30, but ongoing issues led them to extend the date to Dec. 11. E2 chairman and chief executive Craig Bouchard told the Associated Press two weeks ago that financing agreements between the buying parties had lapsed, but said at the time that the partners remained committed to the deal.
In its news release, ArcelorMittal said thetrustee, Washington, D.C., lawyer Joseph Krauss, intends to retain an investment bank to assist him in the sale process. The company said no specific schedule has been established but that Krauss? goal is to complete the sale at “the earliest possible closing date.”
