VISA Steel Limited and SunCoke Energy, Inc. announced that they have entered into agreements to form a cokemaking joint venture in India. SunCoke Energy will invest approximately Rs. 368 Crores (US$67 million) to acquire a 49% interest in the joint venture. VISA Steel will hold the remaining 51%. The joint venture, which will be unlevered at closing, will be comprised of VISA Steel’s existing 400,000 tonnes per annum heat recovery coke plant and associated steam generation units at Kalinganagar in Odisha, India. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013, subject to customary conditions, including approval from VISA Steel shareholders.

Commenting on the announcement, Vishambhar Saran, chairman of VISA Steel said, "This is a great opportunity for VISA Steel to partner with SunCoke, known for its operating and technological expertise, to grow the coke business. The demand for coke from large and medium size steel producers has been increasing substantially and there is a potential to grow the coke business on a standalone basis."

"We are pleased to partner with VISA Steel, a company with strong leadership in the steel and coke industry, to grow our international footprint and establish a cokemaking presence in India," said Fritz Henderson, chairman and CEO of SunCoke Energy, Inc. "We believe that the coke industry in India is a key market that offers us attractive growth opportunities," he said. 

VISA Steel is a leading player in the special steel, coke and ferro chrome industry in India with manufacturing facilities located at Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Odisha. VISA Steel has decided to transfer its business of manufacturing and sale of metallurgical coke and associated steam generation units located at Kalinganagar, Odisha by way of Slump Sale on a going concern basis to its subsidiary VISA Coke Limited. VISA Steel also holds a 65% stake in VISA BAO Limited, a joint venture company with Baosteel, one of China’s leading steel companies, which is setting up a ferro chrome plant in Odisha.

SunCoke Energy, Inc. is the largest independent producer of metallurgical coke in the Americas, with 50 years of experience supplying coke to the integrated steel industry. Its advanced, heat recovery cokemaking process produces high-quality coke for use in steelmaking, captures waste heat for derivative energy resale and meets or exceeds environmental standards. Its cokemaking facilities are located in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Vitoria, Brazil, and its coal mining operations, which have more than 114 million tons of proven and probable reserves, are located in Virginia and West Virginia.