Former Ilva: a two-horse race – bids from Arvedi and Jindal are on the table

The bids from Arvedi and Jindal are the two offers received by midnight last night for the acquisition of Acciaierie d’Italia. It has been confirmed that Italian consortium led by Federacciai has been confirmed, whilst Flacks Group announced as early as Sunday evening that it would not be taking part in the tender but that would update its bid only after discussions with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

If Jindal is a returning, because the Indian group had already submitted a bid for the tender that concluded in January 2025 following the launch of the first call for tenders at the end of July 2024, but had then been absent from the subsequent call for tenders that closed in September 2025, Arvedi, on the other hand, is entering the fray for the first time for Acciaierie d’Italia. Arvedi’s previous involvement with the former Ilva dates back to 2016–2017, when the Cremona-based group – which produces the flat-rolled steel products that Taranto also used to manufacture before shutting down the hot rolling mill, took part in the first tender under the first extraordinary administration. Arvedi was part of the Acciaitalia consortium alongside Jindal and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, but that tender was subsequently won by ArcelorMittal, a multinational that managed the former Ilva from November 2018 until February 2024, when a second extraordinary administration – the current one – came into effect.

The two bids will now be examined by the commissioners of Acciaierie d’Italia, following the preliminary assessment already carried out on previous occasions. It appears that both groups aim to resume steel production in Taranto, but using electric furnaces rather than the blast furnaces that have been decommissioned. Electric furnaces represent decarbonisation, that is, the objective which, for over a year, has been identified as the new direction for the former Ilva, but which has never been implemented.

But now the judiciary has stepped in and the confirmation, by the Court of Cassation, of the injunction issued by the Milan Court of Appeal, make it necessary to get the electric furnaces project in Taranto back on track if we are to attempt to relaunch steel production at the former Ilva and maintain, at least in part, employment within the group. This currently stands at just under ten thousand direct employees, but for 9,600 of them – 8,600 of whom are in Taranto – the company has applied for extraordinary redundancy payments as production has come to a complete standstill. Furthermore, negotiations on the redundancy scheme are set to resume tomorrow, 10 November, at the Ministry of Labour.

Finally, as had been predicted in the run-up to the event, no bid was received from the Italian steelmakers or from Federacciai. This morning, following the official announcement of the groups that had put themselves forward, the industry federation is expected to explain the reasons for its withdrawal. These include, amongst other things, the high cost of the investment, the long-term nature of the return on investment and energy costs.