ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel's joint venture, AM/NS India, won the Deal of the Year Award from the S&P Platts 2020 Global Metals Awards for completing the $5.7 billion acquisition of Essar Steel India Limited, a fully integrated steel producer in India that entered insolvency in 2017. The acquisition provides both ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel a sizeable entry into the high-growth Indian steel market, where steel consumption is expected to grow on average around 6% annually over the next 10-15 years. Neither joint venture partner had any production capability in India before the acquisition.

The Deal of the Year award recognizes the challenges, financial results, leadership, scope and strategic vision of asset buyouts, joint ventures, strategic company alliances or full company mergers or acquisitions, as well as strategic spin-offs that strengthened organizations. The awards program, hosted by S&P Global Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, saw 96 finalists from 23 countries vie for recognition in 15 categories.

Partners George Karafotias and Rory O’Halloran (both New York-Mergers & Acquisitions) advised ArcelorMittal in connection with the transaction. 

Shearman & Sterling’s Mining & Metals Group has taken part in many of the industry’s market-shaping matters. These experiences enable us to provide commercially advantageous advice to our clients for their business activities around the world. Whether advising on joint ventures, asset sales or acquisitions or the restructuring of debt, our team has significant experience in assisting clients in the context of transformative transactions and corporate restructurings around the globe, whether for strategic purposes or within a distressed context.