Investment Firm Acquiring ArcelorMittal Long Products Facilities (Updated)
03/24/2016 - ArcelorMittal is selling three of its U.S. long products mills to a private investment firm for an undisclosed amount, the company has announced.
Under the agreement, an affiliate of Black Diamond Capital Management will buy ArcelorMittal’s Vinton mini-mill in El Paso, Texas, as well as its LaPlace, La., mill. The firm also is acquiring a rolling mill in Harriman, Tenn., and three strategically located stocking depots in Tulsa, Okla.; Chicago, Ill.; and Pittsburgh, Pa.
In affiliation with the Harriman rolling operation, the LaPlace mill makes light structural shapes and merchant bar products, including angles, flats, channels and beams. The Vinton mill makes rebar and grinding media for the mining industry.
“We are pleased to be acquiring these facilities and continuing to provide high-quality steel products and exceptional service to their respective customers," said Black Diamond founder and managing principal Stephen H. Deckoff in a statement.
"These facilities operated as a part of independent companies in the past, and we look forward to coupling that entrepreneurial background with Black Diamond's prior experience to expand the customer and product base."
The deal does not include ArcelorMittal’s rail mill in Steelton, Pa., which also was being shopped around.
"We were not able to reach an agreement on Steelton that was satisfactory for all parties. Steelton will remain within the ArcelorMittal portfolio, and we will continue to operate it, support our employees and improve its profitability, just as we do with our other assets," a spokesman said in a statement to AIST's Steel News.
ArcelorMittal lost US$7.9 billion in 2015 and has announced a plan to cut costs and improve its earnings. Dubbed Action 2020, the plan’s goal is to return earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to more than US$85 per ton over the next five years, absent any recovery in steel spreads and raw material costs.
The company has said that it would move to optimize its North American assets as part of the plan.
“The sale of LaPlace and Vinton is consistent with ArcelorMittal’s stated strategy of selective divestment of non-core assets," said ArcelorMittal North America CEO Jim Baske in a statement.
In affiliation with the Harriman rolling operation, the LaPlace mill makes light structural shapes and merchant bar products, including angles, flats, channels and beams. The Vinton mill makes rebar and grinding media for the mining industry.
“We are pleased to be acquiring these facilities and continuing to provide high-quality steel products and exceptional service to their respective customers," said Black Diamond founder and managing principal Stephen H. Deckoff in a statement.
"These facilities operated as a part of independent companies in the past, and we look forward to coupling that entrepreneurial background with Black Diamond's prior experience to expand the customer and product base."
The deal does not include ArcelorMittal’s rail mill in Steelton, Pa., which also was being shopped around.
"We were not able to reach an agreement on Steelton that was satisfactory for all parties. Steelton will remain within the ArcelorMittal portfolio, and we will continue to operate it, support our employees and improve its profitability, just as we do with our other assets," a spokesman said in a statement to AIST's Steel News.
ArcelorMittal lost US$7.9 billion in 2015 and has announced a plan to cut costs and improve its earnings. Dubbed Action 2020, the plan’s goal is to return earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to more than US$85 per ton over the next five years, absent any recovery in steel spreads and raw material costs.
The company has said that it would move to optimize its North American assets as part of the plan.
“The sale of LaPlace and Vinton is consistent with ArcelorMittal’s stated strategy of selective divestment of non-core assets," said ArcelorMittal North America CEO Jim Baske in a statement.
