In an announcement, the company said it will combine Keystone Consolidated with its Georgetown, S.C., USA, wire rod mill, and create one of the country’s largest wire rod producers. The combined business, called Liberty Steel USA, will have up to 1.8 million tons of melt capacity, 2 million tons of wire rod rolling capacity, a number of value-added downstream operations and more than 1,300 employees.

The combined company will have operations in Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas and Georgia. But it will be managed from a regional headquarters in New York City.

GFG Alliance executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said closure of the deal is an important milestone as the company looks to expand in the U.S.

“I warmly welcome all Keystone employees to the global GFG family. The long history, strong management, excellent workforce and industry position of KCI will pair well with our existing Georgetown plant and will serve as a strong base for our continued expansion to 5 million metric tons per year of steel capacity in the region.”

The company said the deal was supported by Wells Fargo NA and BMO Harris Bank, along with funds managed by BlackRock Financial Management Inc. It said it will look to take Liberty Steel USA public through an initial public offering to be led by Credit Suisse.