The Luxembourg steel giant agreed to the Italian government’s request to increase investment in Ilva’s “huge polluting” plant in Taranto, which is Europe’s largest, according to the Reuters news agency. That was meant to smooth over political resistance.

But Italy’s industry minister, Luigi Di Maio, did not immediately accept the new proposal. He said the Italian government would open a formal review of the planned takeover and could cancel the deal if irregularities were found, Reuters reported on 24 July.

ArcelorMittal agreed to buy Ilva, which is currently in state receivership, last year for €1.8bn, with promises to inject a further €2.3bn for environmental and productivity upgrades. That accord was struck with Italy’s previous government, which was voted out of office in the spring.

The company was due to takeover Ilva on 1 July, but last month the new Italian cabinet said it wanted to review the terms of the deal and extended the handover to mid-September.

That led to ArcelorMittal agreeing to further investments.

On Wednesday morning, an ArcelorMittal spokesman referred Delano to the statement issued by the company on 24 July. Here is the full statement:

“ArcelorMittal has informed Ilva’s Extraordinary Commissioners that it accepts all the substantive requests for additional commitments with respect to the lease and purchase contract signed in June 2017.
“ArcelorMittal is confident that these substantial commitments demonstrate to the Government and other national and local stakeholders its full commitment to the responsible stewardship of Ilva.  
“ArcelorMittal trust that, with the Government’s support, it will now be possible to finalize in the coming days the union agreement, so as to move quickly to completing the transaction.
“ArcelorMittal looks forward to implementing its turnaround plans as soon as possible, so as to ensure a sustainable future for Ilva, its workers, suppliers and industrial customers, as well as the protection of the environment and the well-being of the local communities.”

The firm is scheduled is announce its first half 2018 financial earnings on 1 August and is currently in its “quiet period”, so cautious about making statements that could potentially move its share price.

To complete the transaction, ArcelorMittal separately agreed to sell one of its sites in Dudelange to comply with EU competition rules.