swiss company schmolz bickenbach has been chosen by a strasbourg court to buy troubled french steelmaker ascometal, the court said on monday, with schmolz bickenbach's bid prevailing over a rival one from liberty house.

ascometal, which makes specialty steel and employs around 1 300 workers, filed for court protection last november, and takeover offers for the company had come under the scrutiny of the strasbourg court.

like ascometal, schmolz bickenbach is a producer of specialist steel products.

liberty house, which has been snapping up distressed steel and aluminium assets around the world, had emerged as a top contender to take over ascometal alongside schmolz bickenbach.

liberty house is part of businessman sanjeev gupta's gfg alliance, a $10-billion industrials, energy and commodity group looking to list a steel asset in the united states this year or next, having recently listed an energy asset in london.