ISD Corporation, is considering buying Hungarian steel maker DAM Steel Rt

The Donetsk, Ukraine-based Donbass Industrial Union, or ISD Corporation, is considering buying Hungarian steel maker DAM Steel Rt, Interfax. DAM is currently under liquidation. ISD, which recently acquired Hungary's Dunaferr steel works, is assessing DAM Steel, Alexander Pilipenko, ISD's corporate rights and investments manager. An ISD-led consortium including Ukraine's Alchevsk Metallurgical Combine, Duferco International Trading Holding Ltd of Switzerland and Kundax AG of Liechtenstein won the tender to buy Dunaferr at the end of last year. Borsodi Nemesacel Acelgyarto (BNA), the operator of DAM Steel's assets, declared bankruptcy in March when CIB Bank said it would not renew a HUF 2 billion credit line to the company. BNA took over DAM's operations last summer after former owner Cogne Acciai Speciali suspended production due to financing difficulties earlier in the year. On Friday, the Borsod County Court initiated the liquidation of BNA. At the same time, DAM's liquidator Matraholding announced that the tender to sell DAM's assets and BNA was unsuccessful, as just one bid was made, with E-D Vascentrum Kft offering HUF 1.5 billion. A new tender could be issued shortly, the liquidator said. Evraz Holding, Russia's largest steel producer, and a domestic investor group aided by Istvan Horvath, the former chairman of Dunaferr, have also indicated interest in buying DAM.