Russia's Abramovich Looks to Merge Two Steel Giants, Evraz and Severstal

摘要

Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea FC means to create Russia's largest metallurgic holding by merging Evraz Group, in which he already holds 40 percent, with other Russian smelters, such as Alexei Mordashov's Severstal. This information was announced by Abramovich's business partner and head of investment vehicle Millhouse Group Evgeny Shvidler. The start of establishment of a metallurgic holding, whose center will be Evraz Group, was announced by Shvidler at a closed briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 6. He said that negotiations on consolidation are going on with owners of all metallurgic plants in Russia. "The Severstal and Metalloinvest groups are ready today for negotiations with us," Shvidler said, quoted by the Kommersant daily. "We've looked for a sector showing a strong growth potential through a merger. He saw that this business is only possible in the metals sector," Shvidler was quoted as saying. "We are ready to offer financial aide to Evraz if necessary, but shareholders prefer a merger based on swapping shares," Shvidler was quoted as saying.