ArcelorMittal obtains €140mn freezing order against Gupta’s Liberty House

ArcelorMittal has obtained a €140mn freezing injunction in Singapore against Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty House Group, as part of efforts to enforce an arbitration award against the British steel magnate’s companies.

The world’s second-largest steelmaker has been pursuing two of Gupta’s companies for payment of €140mn in deferred compensation, stemming from ArcelorMittal’s 2019 sale of steel plants in Romania, Czechia and several other European countries to Gupta’s Liberty Steel group.

In January, a London arbitration tribunal issued a €140mn award against Singapore-based Liberty House Group and UK-based Liberty Steel East Europe in ArcelorMittal’s favour, according to court documents filed in the US last week. The following month the English High Court recognised the award.

In September, the Singapore High Court issued a freezing injunction “prohibiting Liberty from removing from Singapore any assets located in Singapore” up to €140mn, according to the court documents. 

“ArcelorMittal reasonably contemplates filing a worldwide freezing order in the English courts to prohibit the transfer of any of Liberty’s assets anywhere in the world up to €140 million,” lawyers for ArcelorMittal wrote in the US court filing.

The freezing injunction adds to the challenges facing Gupta, who has been battling to hold together his GFG Alliance group of companies since the collapse of their main lender, Greensill Capital in 2021. GFG companies have this year faced insolvency claims from creditors in both UK and Romanian courts.

“This is not a new development but a long-running dispute relating to a contested deferred consideration from 2019 which GFG is challenging through legal means,” GFG said.

“We have applied to overturn the order, and the Singaporean companies referred to as having their assets frozen are non-trading holding companies, so have no operations. This has absolutely no impact on any of our businesses, suppliers, or customers.”

ArcelorMittal declined to comment.

ArcelorMittal’s lawyers claim that because Sanjeev Gupta’s companies have not paid any part of the award and have ignored its demands for payment, it has been “been forced to undertake a multi-jurisdictional enforcement process”.

The lawyers described GFG as “an opaque, complicated, and ever-shifting web of companies that moves assets in and out of Alliance companies as and when it suits Mr Sanjeev Gupta”. 

GFG is the subject of an ongoing probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office focusing on the financing arrangements between its businesses and Greensill. GFG has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The US court documents relate to a request from ArcelorMittal to issue subpoenas requesting documents from US-based companies that it claims have done business with Liberty.

Additional reporting by Sylvia Pfeifer