Russian steel maker Severstal is in negotiations to buy Weirton Steel Corp. of the United States from Mittal Steel, Russian paper Kommersant reported on Friday, without naming its source.

Kommersant said Mittal, the world’s largest steel maker, might be required to sell Weirton Steel in place of Canadian steel maker Dofasco to satisfy anti-monopoly regulation after the company’s merger with Arcelor.

A Dutch foundation holding the shares of Dofasco this month refused a request that would have allowed the sale of the Canadian unit to Germany’s Thyssenkrupp.

U.S. regulators have said Arcelor Mittal would have to sell either Weirton Steel — a West Virginia-based producer of about 3 million tonnes a year of steel — or its Sparrows Point plant in Maryland should its planned sale of Dofasco be blocked.

“While this is clearly a preliminary report, and the transaction may never occur, we believe that such a combination would benefit Severstal by giving it more exposure to the U.S. market,” Moscow brokerage Aton said in a note.

Severstal, which raised just over $1 billion placing shares in London this month, plans to acquire more assets on the way to becoming the world’s second-largest steel maker, its 41-year-old billionaire owner, Alexei Mordashov, has said.

The company, Russia’s largest steel maker if foreign assets are included, already has a presence in North America after its purchase of Rouge Steel.

Evraz Group, Russia’s top steel maker by domestic volume, this week announced the $2.3 billion purchase of Oregon Steel Mills, while NLMK plans a joint venture with steel trader and producer Duferco to acquire assets in Europe and the United States.

Another report by Kommersant was cited as a factor in United States Steel Corp. shares rising more than 8 percent on November 17. The newspaper said Severstal and Metalloinvest, a rival steel firm owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, were discussing a merger and possible bid for U.S. Steel.

Weirton Steel is the eight-largest steel maker in the United States and the country’s second-largest producer of tin-plated steel products, Aton said.

Severstal’s London-traded global depositary receipts closed on Thursday at $11.50, a dollar below the placement price.

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