Maverick Tube Corp. announced the successful completion of its previously announced sale of certain assets of its hollow structural sections (HSS) product line to Atlas Tube.

At closing, Maverick received cash of about $37.8 million. Together with proceeds expected to be derived from certain retained assets (principally trade receivables), Maverick expects to generate liquidity of approximately $51 million from the sale.

As indicated previously, the parties have also entered into a conversion agreement whereby Maverick will continue to produce HSS products for Atlas at Maverick's Hickman, Ark., HSS mill for up to 18 months.

James A. Cowan, the company's President and CEO, said, "The divestiture of the HSS product line gives us additional liquidity to continue to execute our growth strategy in our core businesses." Mr. Cowan continued, "While we believe the sale of this product line is in the best interests of our shareholders, we recognize the impact on our employees affected by this decision. We sincerely thank all the stakeholders in this business for their past efforts and support and wish them all the best in their new endeavors."

Maverick Tube Corp. is a St. Louis, Missouri, based manufacturer of tubular products in the energy industry for exploration, production, and transmission, as well as industrial tubing products (steel electrical conduit, HSS, standard pipe, pipe piling, and mechanical tubing) used in various applications.