INDIAN steel company Ispat Industries announced on August 15 that it bought Finmetals Holding, the majority owner of the Kremikovtsi metallurgical plant near Sofia.
Global Steel Holdings Ltd, a unit of Ispat, had been in talks to acquire Finmetals' 71 per cent stake in Kremikovtsi since last year and had sat on its management board since August.
Although the price of the deal was not officially disclosed, Bulgarian media speculated on August 16 that it totalled $100 million.
Kremikovtsi's general shareholder meeting, held earlier on August 15, voted on changes in the supervisory board, under the purchase agreement.
Pramod Mittal, Ispat's board chairman and managing director, was elected chairman of the supervisory board.
The other members of the board included Vinod Mittal, Ispat's managing director, Valentin Zahariev, former CEO of Kremikovtsi, Borislav Boyanov of Bulgarian law office Borislav Boyanov & Co and Ivan Mihailov, an Economy Ministry representative. 
The board appointed Global Steel's executive director Alok Gupta as board chairman and CEO of Kremikovtsi.
"Kremikovtsi has considerable potential to become a leading producer of steel in the region," Global Steel said. The company plans to invest $300 million in the plant over the next three years to help recover and stabilise the plant and boost its production capacity in line with the European Union's environmental requirements.
Kremikovtsi exports most of its output to EU member states, Turkey, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, the United States and China.
In July, Kremikovtsi paid 4.2 million euro to acquire 100 per cent in zinc coating plant NewCo LLamkos Steel LLC in Vustri, Kosovo, after winning the second tender on April 13 for the privatisation of LLamkos Steel. Kremikovtsi intends to invest 15 million euro to modernise the plant over the next two years. 
Bulgaria's Government has a 25.29 per cent stake in Kremikovtsi. The remaining 3.71 per cent stake is traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange - Sofia.
Finmetals Holding bought a majority stake in Kremikovtsi from the state in 1999 for the price of $1, after assuming $420 million in outstanding debts.
Kremikovtsi's balance-sheet profit for 2004 was 80 million leva, down by 32 per cent compared to 2003. Sales income, however, surged by 30 per cent last year. For the first quarter of 2005 the company posted a profit of 1.6 million leva, compared to a 41.4 million leva loss for the same period last year.