Italian steel group Marcegaglia and ArcelorMittal made an offer to buy Italy's struggling , Reuters reported May 9,citing Marcegaglia's CEO Emma Marcegaglia.

Ilva, the largest steel plant by output capacity in Europe, fellunder the Italian government's fullcontrol in January 2015 in a bid to save thousands of jobs.

The government launchedthe bidding for the plant earlier in the year and decreed that the salebe completed by June 30.

The companies had requested Italian state-lender Cassa Depositie Prestiti to take part.

According to an earlier report, the sale of the troubled steelmakerdrew 29 potential bidders.