Steel knots

Flacks Group rejects former Ilva commissioners' conditions and asks for state loan for relaunch

The potential US investor: in the situation the company is in, no bank will grant credit. The proposal: temporary public aid for at least six months that the buyer would repay

by Domenico Palmiotti

28 March 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

"Even a healthy company would have problems complying"
"Did Jindal give the same guarantees?"
Commissioners: on with Flacks and Jindal
The two proposals in the field

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The US fund Flacks Group, which has applied to take over the entire former Ilva group from the extraordinary administration, is blocking the requests made by the commissioners for the continuation of negotiations. "Most of them are inadmissible and do not match the market reality," he says.

In recent days, the commissioners of Ilva and Acciaierie urged Flacks to integrate the offer. In particular, the commissioners asked the US fund about the industrial plan and related investments, employment and, above all, financial guarantees to support the entire operation. Flacks never replied to the commissioners. However, the response from the potential US investor came in a note stating that 'the main sticking point concerns bank financing to cover a multi-year business plan'.

"Even a healthy company would have problems to fulfil"

For Flacks, 'no credit institution, among the many contacted in recent months, would today be willing to grant loans of this nature, all the more so on an asset like Ilva, burdened by heavy judicial uncertainties on the possible blocking of the plants and by an undefined cost of energy. Such a request would be out of the market even for a healthy company, being a condition never seen in the practice of operations of this type'. The 'alternative proposal' that Flacks puts forward is that 'the state should provide a temporary vendor loan, lasting six months or a year at most, to enable the buyer to restart the plants on a sound basis'. Flacks assures that it would 'provide all the necessary guarantees for repayment'. And only 'once Ilva's continued operation has been demonstrated' would the banks, which 'would have already given signs of willingness', finance the operation. 'Without this preliminary guarantee,' Flacks argues, 'there would not be a single operator on the market willing to put non-repayable capital into an asset with such an uncertain fate.

Ex Ilva, Fumarola "Auspichiamo che la trattativa arrivi a buon fine"

"Did Jindal give the same guarantees?"

Moreover, in the note Flacks "also raises a politically sensitive issue. It asks whether Jindal Steel - the other party coming forward for Ilva - has provided the government with concrete guarantees on the effective financial coverage of its business plan'. And he says he is 'ready to match any offer the Indian group might make'. Flacks adds that he is 'up to this moment, the only party formally designated exclusively to negotiate with the government'.

However, even if the commissioners' requests are deemed 'inadmissible' and if there are no banks willing to grant credit on such an uncertain and problematic lot as the former Ilva, the potential US buyer is still in the field for the steel plant. In fact, it announces that 'the company is preparing detailed answers to the commissioners' questions, in which it intends to provide evidence of further assets, in addition to those already documented'.

Finally, it is stated, 'the Flacks group confirms its full willingness to initiate, already in the coming days, a structured and constructive dialogue with the various trade unions operating in the former Ilva, with the aim of promoting a transparent dialogue oriented towards the industrial and employment sustainability of the recovery plan'.

Flacks' response, in the form of a widely circulated note instead of being directed only to the commissioners, has somewhat surprised the circles of the extraordinary administration of Ilva and Acciaierie even though, it is noted, it is certainly not the first time that Flacks has followed this behaviour. That is, speaking through the media instead of to his stakeholders. While on what the possible buyer has judged 'inadmissible', it is pointed out that these are guarantees aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of Flacks' acquisition of the industrial asset.

Commissioners: we continue with Flacks and Jindal

However, on the part of the commissioners, the discussion with the American fund is not closed. It will continue in the coming days, just as discussions are continuing with Jindal Steel International, the Indian group that has returned to the steelworks scene in recent weeks with a binding proposal. This was followed by a meeting on Monday in Rome of Venkatesch Jindal, son of Naveen, head of JSI, with the Minister of Enterprise, Adolfo Urso, flanked by the chief of cabinet and staff, and then with the commissioners. And with Jindal the negotiations are continuing.

The two proposals in the field

The proposals on the former Ilva by Flacks and Jindal differ substantially. Flacks proposes a production of 6 million tons of steel in Taranto, 8,500 employees and investments of around 5 billion. Jindal, on the other hand, indicates a production of 6 million tons, 2 million of which will be produced by a single electric furnace in Taranto and 4 million in the form of steel slabs from Oman, where Jindal is building another steel plant with two electric furnaces and two Dri, the pre-shredder plants. Until 2030 and while waiting to have the electric furnaces in operation, Jindal - which would employ 4,500 people - would keep two blast furnaces out of three in Taranto in order to have 4 million tons in the transitional phase.