French government says has a buyer for ArcelorMittal steel plant

“Discussions are ongoing,” a London-based spokesman for ArcelorMittal said when asked if the firm would be ready to sell the Florange steelworks. He would not elaborate. Earlier, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said the prospect of a temporary nationalisation of Florange was a special case and did not meant that further state takeovers for threatened factories were being prepared.

SUCCESSION PLAN

* France has raised the prospect of the site being taken temporarily into state hands if no sale agreement is reached

* The French government aims to have a zero cost for public finances and was mulling using existing state stakes in companies to fund the deal

* ArcelorMittal has so far said that it wants to sell only the idled furnaces and not the entire site