Aditya Mittal may chair Essar Steel board 

ARCELORMITTAL’S Aditya Mittal is expected to chair and run Indian metal firm Essar Steel.

Mittal, son of LN Mittal, will lead the chair with the directors drawn from the two joint acquiring partners - ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC).

The two steel giants have been working together as the India-born tycoon is on the way to acquire Essar Steel.

The acquisition of the Indian steel mill will pave the way for Mittal’s business to enter into the Indian market as a major metal producer.

“Both companies are working on putting together a core strategy and integration team, as the world's largest maker of the infrastructure alloy gets ready to take Essar Steel into its fold, marking Arcelor-Mittal's first major foray into India,” The Economic Times reported quoting top industry sources.

The Japanese steel group is likely to be represented by at least two members in the joint board.

The partners will share the responsibility of running Essar Steel.

Nippon Steel will likely focus on operations, whereas Arcelor-Mittal will control marketing and customer relationships.

Essar Steel is under administration over debt repayment in one of the largest flat-steel facilities in the world with over eight million tonnes per annum production capacity.

The company has the most integrated facility with downstream and upstream units that include hot and cold-rolling plants, plate mill, pipe unit, and pellet factories.

ArcelorMittal had stated in its recent financial statement: "ArcelorMittal and NSC expect to finance the JV through a combination of partnership equity (one-third) and debt (two-thirds), and ArcelorMittal anticipates that its investment in the joint venture will be equity accounted."

Aditya Mittal, 43, is the president and chief financial officer at ArcelorMittal and chief executive of ArcelorMittal Europe, both controlled by his father LN Mittal.