LN Mittal to acquire Lafarge, Anglo American's UK assets in £272-mn deal

In his first substantial industrial investment in the UK, Lakshmi Mittal has struck a £272-million deal for the acquisition of number of cement and aggregates plants, in what is said may be a big bet that the depressed economy would make a strong recovery.

The venture by Mittal's private investment business,  which is run separately from ArcelorMittal steel company, comes as the first move by the Indian billionaire into the construction sector.

According to Mittal Investments, the Mittal family wanted to buy the industrial units due to its ''confidence in the future growth of the UK economy and more specifically the construction sector''.

Sir John Parker, chairman of Anglo American, the UK mining group that is one of two companies that sold Mittal the assets, has welcomed the move as a ''vote of confidence'' by the steel tycoon in the UK economy.

He said the move by Mittal showed that he saw a strong future for construction even if it had been hit hard by the recent economic difficulties.

Though Mittal is a long-time London resident, ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, where he is chairman and chief executive with a 41-per cent stake does not have any industrial operations in Britain.