The Luxembourg government has made a €14.5 million offer to nationalise Liberty Steel’s plant in Dudelange, three ministers said Thursday, revealing the potential price tag for the first time.
The government in July said it would be making a bid to buy the plant, which was declared insolvent last year, but did not disclose the offer price.
Economy Minister Lex Delles, Defence Minister Yuriko Backes and Labour Minister Marc Spautz said in response to a parliamentary question on Thursday that the offer is subject to several conditions. These include maintenance of the properties and guarantee of access upon first request to documents related to the building and facilities.
Also read:Luxembourg state makes offer to buy bankrupt Dudelange steel factory
The ministers also said in response to the parliamentary question that the offer was subject to the government being able to obtain the settlement of all preferential claims, including wage claims and the outstanding balance to be repaid to the ADEM employment body.
The ministers said that they plan to use one of the sites at the former steel works for “economic activities within the defense sector, including the creation of the Defense Campus”. A second site is intended for use as a craftsmen’s workshop.
The sites were bought in 2019 by Liberty Steel, which has been losing assets around the world to bankruptcy and administration, and which has idled production at the Dudelange site for more than two years.
Steel giant ArcelorMittal said earlier this year it has no interest in repurchasing the factory it was forced to sell six years ago, even though the European Commission would now allow it to do so and the company is snapping up part of a Belgium plant from collapsing owner Liberty Steel.
Former EU competition boss Margrethe Vestager, with a waiver order in November 2024, liberated ArcelorMittal from its 2018 requirement to sell the Dudelange plant and facilities in five other countries.