U.K.-based Liberty, part of the global GFG Alliance that also owns Georgetown Steel, announced that it has agreed to buy four European steel plants, including a wire rod operation, from ArcelorMittal.

A press release said that the "landmark transaction" that raise Liberty’s total annual rolling capacity to over 15 million metric tons (mmt). The deal includes Mittal’s integrated works at Ostrava in the Czech Republic, which has some 6,000 employees. Products made there include wire rod, hot-rolled coil, sheets, rebar, merchant bar and light rail. More than half the production is exported.

The deal also includes three other plants—one in Galati, Romania, and two (Skopje and Piombino) in Italy—that produce a range of other steel products. The collective plants have some 12,500 employees. The deal was related to requirements for ArceloMittal, which is seeking to buy Ilva, a huge yet long-troubled steel giant in Italy.