Italy ready for 'legal battle of century' with ArcelorMittal - Conte

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government is ready to fight ArcelorMittal in the courts if it goes back on a pledge to buy steelmaker Ilva, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday. 'It will be the legal battle of the century,' Conte told state television RAI

Reuters November 08, 2019 00:06:47 IST
Italy ready for 'legal battle of century' with ArcelorMittal - Conte

Italy ready for legal battle of century with ArcelorMittal  Conte

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government is ready to fight ArcelorMittal in the courts if it goes back on a pledge to buy steelmaker Ilva, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday.

"It will be the legal battle of the century," Conte told state television RAI.

ArcelorMittal said this week it was withdrawing from a deal to buy Ilva, blaming its decision on a government move to scrap previous guarantees of legal immunity during a massive clean-up operation at Ilva's huge Taranto plant.

Conte said the government was ready to restore the legal shield if that was the real problem, but added that ArcelorMittal's problem was linked to the fact that it believed its industrial plan for the company was no longer valid.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Giulia Segreti)

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