The steelmaker has taken over the shares of the American fund Apollo, which contributed to the financial recovery of the seamless tubes specialist. While Vallourec refers to ArcelorMittal as a natural partner, it seems fairly obvious that hydrogen storage played a role in their getting closer together. 

Facts first. ArcelorMittal bought out the Apollo fund for $955 million. It holds 27.5% of the share capital of a company that plans to wipe out its debt by the end of 2025 at the latest and to pay dividends to shareholders. In March, Vallourec announced that “With Apollo’s help, we have fundamentally changed the operational and financial structure of Vallourec, and are now well-positioned to carry this momentum into the future.”

We can assume that a player like ArcelorMittal, which has set itself the goal of decarbonising steel production using hydrogen, is interested in Vallourec’s new Delphy activity. As a matter of fact, massive hydrogen storage is part of its needs. It should be noted that this activity is placed directly under the authority of Philippe Guillemot, Vallourec’s Chairman and CEO. It is strategic, as are the activities dedicated to new energies, which should account for 10 to 15% of the Group’s turnover by 2030.

€2 billion worth of projects in the pipeline

The market has also reacted positively, as the Delphy solution has been selected by H2V and Nextchem. Vallourec believes that there is also potential in the Middle East. “To date, potential demand represents around 50 projects, with sales opportunities totalling more than €2 billion which makes it possible to increase our margins,” says the company. 

ArcelorMittal does not intend to launch a public offer for the remaining Vallourec shares in the next six months. It will inform the market if it changes its mind, as it was written in the latest Press Release. However, some analysts believe the opposite.

Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King