ArcelorMittal Buys Brazilian Iron Ore Miner

World's largest steelmaker said it will acquire all of London Mining Brasil's shares from London Mining PLC for $810 million.

LUXEMBOURG (AP) -- ArcelorMittal SA announced Wednesday it has acquired London Mining Brasil, a Brazilian iron ore miner, and said it will develop port facilities in the state of Rio de Janeiro together with Canadian iron ore producer Adriana Resources Inc.

The world's largest steelmaker said it will acquire all of London Mining Brasil's shares from London Mining PLC for $764 million. It will also assume loans of $46 million, raising the cost of the acquisition to $810 million.

ArcelorMittal said it has also agreed with Adriana Resources Inc. of Vancouver to develop an iron ore port facility in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It said it will pay $40.5 million for 80 percent of the port with Adriana holding the remaining 20 percent. ArcelorMittal will also acquire up to 19.9 percent of Adriana's common shares and get a seat on its board of directors .

In a statement, ArcelorMittal called the transactions -- which require regulatory approvals -- an "important investment in the dynamic Brazilian market (and) ensures that our iron ore base is further diversified in the face of tighter supply for raw materials."

ArcelorMittal has more than 320,000 employees in over 60 countries. In May it reported a 5 percent rise in first quarter profit to $2.37 billion as strong worldwide demand allowed it to hike prices despite higher costs.

In 2007, it had revenues of $105.2 billion and crude steel production of 116 million tonnes, around 10 per cent of world output.

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