Gruppo Riva is an Italian steel producer. After the Arcelor-Mittal merger and the takeover of Corus by Tata Steel, the group is currently the world’s fourteenth and the European Union’s second largest steel producer . Riva Group (consisting of two companies, Riva Acciaio and Ilva) is private-owned and the whole shareholders' equity is held by the Riva family, through the financial insitusion " Riva FIRE" (stands for "Finanziaria Industriale Riva Emilio").

History

Riva Acciaio was established in 1954 in Milan by Adriano and Emilio Riva as an iron scrap trading business. In 1957 the first Riva Acciaio mini-mill was built in Caronno Pertusella near Varese. A few years later, this plant became the first steelworks in Italy to use continuous casting, in partnership with steel plant engineer Danieli. In the 1960s and 1970s Riva expanded by means of acquisition of several small steel producers in Northern Italy and in Spain (Siderurgica Sevillana). In the 1980s Riva made further acquisitions in Italy (the previously state-owned steelworks Acciaierie di Cornigliano), in Belgium and in France. In 1991 it acquired two mini-mills in the former German Democratic Republic. In 1995 Riva Acciaio purchased Ilva, the biggest Italian state-owned steel producer, and so became one of the major Italian companies.

Facilities

The Ilva plant in Taranto is the largest steelworks in Europe, equipped with five blast furnaces. Riva Acciaio's headquarters are in Milan, and facilities are located in Northern Italy (Caronno Pertusella, Verona, Sellero, Lesegno). The Riva group has foreign subsidiaries in Germany (Brandenburg), France (Bonnières-sur-Seine, Gargenville), Belgium (Charleroi), Spain (Sevilla), Greece (Thessaloniki) and Tunisia (Biserta).

References