OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2007. Novolipetsk Steel (LSE: NLMK) maintains recent media reports concerning the Yekaterinburg-based Maxi Group, the company's press service reported. NLMK confirms that it is in the process of discussions with Maxi Group and that the parties have reached an agreement in principle on the sale of a controlling interest in Maxi Group to NLMK.

The transaction, which is subject to fulfillment of a shareholders agreement and approval by NLMK’s Board of Directors, is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Maxi-group is a vertically integrated group comprised  by two major divisions – a production division, OJSC Metallurgical holding, and a raw materials division, CJSC Uralvtorchermet, that form the production chain from scrap collection and processing to production of high value added steel products. The Company owns CJSC Nizhneserginskiy metizno-metallurgicheskiy zavod, a hardware producer, and CJSC Revdinskiy trubnyi zavod, a tube producer.