ArcelorMittal to Acquire Additional Noble Shares
03/26/2008 - ArcelorMittal’s shareholding in Noble International will reach approximately 49.95% with the just-announced acquisition of an additional 10.31% of Noble’s shares from Chairman and founder Robert J. Skandalaris.
ArcelorMittal has provided Noble International, Ltd. with a $50 million convertible subordinated loan. Noble will use the proceeds of this financing to reduce its North American senior debt and to support its operations.
“We are very pleased that ArcelorMittal, our largest shareholder, customer and supplier, demonstrated the confidence it has in Noble’s long term strategy by investing $50 million into the company,” said Noble CEO Thomas L. Saeli, commenting on the transactions. “We believe this cash infusion will put our North American covenant issues behind us and allow management to focus all of its attention on integrating our recent acquisitions and running the business.”
ArcelorMittal also has agreed to acquire an additional 10.31% of shares of Noble from Robert J. Skandalaris, Noble’s Chairman and founder. This will increase ArcelorMittal’s shareholding in Noble to approximately 49.95%.
ArcelorMittal said that it looks forward to working closely with Noble in order to build on Noble’s success.
The announced agreement is subject to satisfaction of certain conditions.
Noble International is the world’s largest producer of laser-welded steel products, and a leading supplier of automotive parts, component assemblies and value-added services to the automotive industry. As an automotive supplier, Noble provides design, engineering, manufacturing, program management and other services to the automotive market. Noble delivers integrated component solutions, technological leadership and product innovation to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier I automotive parts suppliers.
ArcelorMittal is the world's largest and most global steel company, with 310,000 employees in more than 60 countries. The company leads a number of major global markets, including automotive, construction, household appliances and packaging, with leading R&D and technology, as well as sizeable captive supplies of raw materials and outstanding distribution networks. An industrial presence in 28 European, Asian, African and American countries exposes the company to a number of key steel markets, from emerging to mature, positions it will be looking to develop in the high-growth Chinese and Indian markets.
ArcelorMittal’s key unaudited financials for 2007 show revenues of USD 105.2 billion, with a crude steel production of 116 million tonnes, representing around 10% of world steel output.
