Big River Steel Awarded IJGlobal’s 2014 Deal of the Year Award
03/25/2015 - Big River Steel is pleased to announce that it has received IJGlobal’s 2014 Deal of the Year Award for a North American Metals & Mining transaction.
The US$1.3 billion financing package for Big River Steel’s new scrap metal recycling and steel production facility was noted at the Deal of the Year award ceremony as being the largest industrial investment in Arkansas’ history. It was further noted that the Big River Steel facility is the first flex mill to be developed in the United States, combining the capabilities of a traditional integrated steel mill with the nimbleness of a mini mill.
Industry veteran John Correnti and an executive team comprised of steel innovators were supported by Global Principal Partners (GPP) to close on the financing necessary to build, start-up and operate the facility in June 2014. In addition to GPP, the equity sponsors that financed Big River Steel included the Arkansas Teachers Retirement System and a consortium of financial and strategic investors.
SMS-Siemag is supplying Big River Steel with a comprehensive package of melting, casting, rolling and finishing technology as well as plant-wide automation. Delivery of the SMS-Siemag supplied equipment to the Big River Steel site in northeast Arkansas is scheduled to begin within the next sixty days.
KfW IPEX-Bank, with support from German export credit agency Euler Hermes, provided the majority of Big River Steel’s term debt which sits beside a twenty year loan provided by Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Bank of Arkansas arranged the working capital financing for Big River Steel.
Big River Steel’s facility will produce steels currently under supplied in the U.S. market while creating employment for more than 500 people with average annual compensation of US$75,000.
Dave Stickler, senior managing director at GPP and chief administrative officer for Big River Steel, said, “On behalf of Big River Steel, it is a great honor to accept the Deal of the Year award. It is an even greater honor to be a part of an enterprise that will bring high-quality industrial jobs and economic growth to Arkansas and provide innovation to the American steel industry.”
Big River Steel is expected to begin operations in approximately twelve months. Big River Steel’s complement of products will include high-strength lightweight steels used in the automotive and other industries focused on both safety and fuel economy, wide and thick steels used in a variety of industrial applications as well as the pipe and tube industry, and electrical steels used in applications where electrical energy is produced, transmitted and consumed.
Industry veteran John Correnti and an executive team comprised of steel innovators were supported by Global Principal Partners (GPP) to close on the financing necessary to build, start-up and operate the facility in June 2014. In addition to GPP, the equity sponsors that financed Big River Steel included the Arkansas Teachers Retirement System and a consortium of financial and strategic investors.
SMS-Siemag is supplying Big River Steel with a comprehensive package of melting, casting, rolling and finishing technology as well as plant-wide automation. Delivery of the SMS-Siemag supplied equipment to the Big River Steel site in northeast Arkansas is scheduled to begin within the next sixty days.
KfW IPEX-Bank, with support from German export credit agency Euler Hermes, provided the majority of Big River Steel’s term debt which sits beside a twenty year loan provided by Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Bank of Arkansas arranged the working capital financing for Big River Steel.
Big River Steel’s facility will produce steels currently under supplied in the U.S. market while creating employment for more than 500 people with average annual compensation of US$75,000.
Dave Stickler, senior managing director at GPP and chief administrative officer for Big River Steel, said, “On behalf of Big River Steel, it is a great honor to accept the Deal of the Year award. It is an even greater honor to be a part of an enterprise that will bring high-quality industrial jobs and economic growth to Arkansas and provide innovation to the American steel industry.”
Big River Steel is expected to begin operations in approximately twelve months. Big River Steel’s complement of products will include high-strength lightweight steels used in the automotive and other industries focused on both safety and fuel economy, wide and thick steels used in a variety of industrial applications as well as the pipe and tube industry, and electrical steels used in applications where electrical energy is produced, transmitted and consumed.
