Arcelor Acquires Brazilian Iron Ore Assets

ArcelorMittal has agreed to acquire London Mining’s Brazilian iron ore operations for $810m and, separately, to buy an 80% stake in a Brazilian port project from Canada’s Adriana Resources for $42m, in a move to increase its access to raw materials. The steelmaker intends to pay for both transactions with cash on hand, a spokesman tells LatinFinance. Arcelor now plans to invest up to $700m to increase production at its newly acquired mines, located in the state of Minas Gerais. It will use the port facility, to be completed at Mangaratiba in the state of Rio de Janeiro at a total cost of $250m, to ship its ore to steel production facilities throughout the Atlantic basin. Arcelor will develop the port jointly with Vancouver-based Adriana, and the two will share capacity in proportion to their ownership. RBC advised ArcelorMittal on both transactions. UBS and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander advised London Mining.