“The long history, strong management, excellent work force 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 tonnes per annum of steel capacity in the region.”
The deal, which was backed by North American banks including Wells Fargo BMO Harris, as well a subsidiary of BlackRock, will take Liberty Steel USA’s total workforce to 1300, with operations in Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas and Georgia.
Keystone’s key assets include a 1.1 million tonne-capacity electric arc furnace, and a leading brand of agriculture fencing products called RedBrand.
GFG has lined up Credit Suisse to handle the potential float of Liberty Steel USA.
The company said it would also seek to “introduce other GFG businesses to the region including GFG’s extensive resources, power and financial services arms”
The American deal comes after a typically busy period for Mr Gupta, who is looking to push GFG into Asia, Europe and the US.
On December 14, the company announced it had completed the $US500 million acquisition of the Europe’s largest aluminium smelter from Rio Tinto.
This came just four days after Mr Gupta announced the signing of $600 million worth of construction contracts as it seeks to expand its operations in the South Australian town of Whyalla.
Mr Gupta acquired the Whyalla steelworks and an associated iron ore mine in 2017 for $700 million.
The Australian business is also the subject of a plan for a partial listing, potentially by the middle of this year.
Floating parts of GFG’s British, US and Australian operations may help to alleviate concerns in the market about the speed of its growth, and how the group is funding the rapid expansion that has seen well over $2 billion invested in the past five years.
In November 2018, insurer QBE cut the level of trade credit insurance cover it provides to some suppliers of GFG’s Australian steel operations following concerns about a lack of financial transparency around the group.
But Mr Gupta has consistently rejected suggestions he moving too fast.
from Just News Viral http://bit.ly/2VpvMZ9
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