Esmark, Inc. has completed its purchase of the assets of Century Steel LLC for $40 million in cash.

Flat rolled steel specialist Century Steel has annual revenues of $130 million selling approximately 200,000 tons of steel annually, making it one of the nation's largest independent distributors of flat rolled steel. Century operates a 25-acre, 300,000 square foot processing facility in Chicago Heights, Ill.

Esmark CEO James P. Bouchard says the addition of Century Steel to the Esmark family of companies is a key component of Esmark's long-term strategy to become one of the nation's largest distributors of cold rolled and coated steel. "Century Steel is a leader in the Midwest steel services market. It has also been a well-managed, family-owned Chicago business for over 65 years and we're honored that the Hokin and Reid families chose Esmark to carry on its tradition," noted Bouchard. "Together with the 2004 acquisitions of Sun Steel and Electric Coating Technologies, we're in a very strong position to take advantage of the continuing consolidation in the service center sector of the steel industry."

Bouchard said that as part of the acquisition, William Ristau will continue as President of Century Steel and assume the position of Chief Commercial Officer of Esmark. Mr. Ristau commented that the strong combination of Esmark and Century should lead to an aggressive expansion of Century Steel's market share in the Midwest.

Originally formed to hold the Bouchard Group's steel industry assets, Chicago-based holding company Esmark completed the acquisitions of Electric Coating Technologies of East Chicago, Ind., and Sun Steel Co. of Chicago Heights, Ill., in February 2004. Electric Coating Technologies (ECT), a metals coatings and finishing concern, and Sun Steel, one of the largest cold-rolled steel service centers in the U.S., became operating units of Esmark, as will Century Steel. Bouchard said the Esmark subsidiaries will be independently managed and quick to react to opportunities within their respective markets.

Headquartered in Chicago, Esmark, Inc. is a steel services company founded by James P. Bouchard and Craig T. Bouchard. The mission of Esmark is to establish the benchmark standards for strategic consolidation, operating efficiency, and management excellence in the global steel service sector.