Iscor’s potential merger with London-based LNM will offer ”extensive benefits” to the company and South Africa, the steel producer said on Monday.
LNM will ”be able to provide the company with high-value proprietary technological support, which had hitherto not been available to Iscor since this cannot be shared with the company until the merger has been concluded.
”LNM’s involvement with Iscor has been extremely valuable in respect of the business, technical, marketing and purchasing support provided by LNM to Iscor in terms of a business assistance agreement between the two companies.
”To date, this has amounted to an annual sustainable saving of R388-million for Iscor,” Iscor spokesperson Phaldie Kalam said in a
statement.
This follows Sunday’s announcement by trade union Solidarity that it will submit a BBC-produced video on Lakshmi Mittal, owner of LNM, at a Competition Tribunal hearing in Pretoria on Monday.
According to Solidarity, ”the tribunal must watch the video which supports the union’s case that a takeover by LNM will not be in the best interest of the South African public”.
The video looks at the business philosophy of Mittal and LNM and their involvement in steel companies across the globe.
Kalam did not comment on Solidarity’s submission, saying that as the matter was being considered by the tribunal, it would be ”inappropriate to comment on specific evidence currently being led”.
However, Kalam said: ”As a commodity business, where one’s competitive advantage is often based simply on the quality of the product offering and the company’s efficiencies, it is essential that Iscor become part of global steel advancements and does not fall behind in its endeavours to be competitive.”
”The merger with LNM is precisely designed to keep the South African steel producer at the cutting edge of the steel industry,” added Kalam. — Sapa