Dec. 29, 2006 — Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. says it has reached an agreement to acquire the net assets and business of the Encore Group of metals service center companies headquartered in Edmonton, Alta., Canada. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Encore Group includes Encore Metals, Encore Metals (USA), Inc., Encore Coils, and Team Tube. The group specializes in the processing and distribution of alloy and carbon bar and tube, as well as stainless steel sheet, plate and bar and carbon steel flat-rolled products, through its 17 facilities located mainly in Western Canada. Encore’s net sales for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005 were C$254.8 million.

The transaction is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2007, subject to the completion of due diligence and regulatory approvals. Current management is expected to remain in place.

Encore was organized in 2004 in connection with the buyout by management and a private equity fund managed by HSBC Capital (Canada) Inc. of certain former Corus CIC and Corus America businesses.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., Reliance Steel & Aluminum is one of the largest metals service center companies in the United States. Through a network of more than 160 locations in 37 states and Belgium, Canada, China and South Korea, the company provides value-added metals processing services and distributes a full line of over 90,000 metal products to more than 95,000 customers in various industries.