UPDATE 2-Italy ready for 'legal battle of century' with ArcelorMittal -Conte

The Italian government will fight ArcelorMittal in the courts if it goes back on a pledge to buy steelmaker Ilva, but Rome still hopes to avoid a bruising legal showdown, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Thursday. “We would all lose if there were a legal battle, but should it happen, it will be the legal battle of the century,” Conte, himself a lawyer, told state television RAI in an interview. ArcelorMittal said this week it was withdrawing from a deal to buy Ilva, blaming its decision on a government move to scrap previous guarantees of legal immunity during a massive clean-up operation at Ilva’s huge Taranto plant.