Esmark Steel Group, the wholly-owned steel services subsidiary of diversified holding company Esmark Inc., on May 20 announced that it has completed the acquisitions of five steel service centers in Illinois and Ohio from OAO Severstal. Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.
Esmark Steel Group acquired the assets of Century Steel and Sun Steel in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and Independent Steel in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, the company acquired the intellectual property assets, brand names and trademarks of Chicago-based Great Western Steel and Homewood, Ill.-based North American Steel. Esmark intends to immediately reintroduce the legendary 100-year-old Great Western Steel Company as well as North American Steel as part of its operations and growth strategy.
All of the service centers will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of Esmark Steel Group, headquartered in Chicago, and will join recently acquired Amtex Steel, Inc. (now Chicago Steel & Iron) in the Esmark Steel Group service center portfolio. Esmark intends to capitalize on its flat-roll integration expertise, product synergies and core Midwest customer base to significantly increase flat-rolled shipments moving forward.
Century, Sun and Independent Steel are specialists in flat-rolled steel processing, bar products and just-in-time services and serve the automotive, construction, durable goods and light manufacturing industries. The three companies have combined annual steel shipments of approximately 300,000 tons of flat-rolled, value-added products and employ approximately 200 people.
James P. Bouchard, chairman and chief executive officer of Esmark Incorporated, said the acquisitions of Century, Sun and Independent Steel greatly expands Esmark Steel Group’s presence in the Midwest market and aligns with its business strategy of acquiring family-owned businesses in the steel belt with strong customer bases and value-added service offerings.
“We’re extremely pleased to have these companies in the Esmark fold and joining Chicago Steel & Iron in serving our customers in Chicago and across the Midwest. Esmark Steel Group CEO Tom Modrowski and his management team have done a tremendous job in returning Chicago Steel & Iron to profitability and we expect the integration of these companies under the Esmark umbrella will result in similar success.”
Tom Modrowski, chief executive officer of Esmark Steel Group, said the acquisitions are in keeping with its business strategy and will help Esmark achieve its annual revenue goals. “When we acquired Amtex Steel our growth plans called for reaching the $250 million revenue threshold by the end of 2010. We fully expect to exceed that target by the end of this year. And, we will continue to pursue other attractive service center assets in the Midwest that meet our growth strategy requirements.”
Modrowski added that Esmark intends to build on its longstanding relationship with the United Steelworkers of America and utilize its financial resources to integrate Century, Sun and Independent Steel into the Esmark Steel Group and capitalize on the economies of scale they provide. “We’ve enjoyed a long and successful relationship with the USW and look forward to building another great company with their support and participation.”
About Esmark Steel Group
Esmark Steel Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Esmark Inc., was formed in November 2009 to identify and pursue strategic acquisitions in the steel service center sector in the Midwest. The formation marked a return to the steel industry since Esmark sold its Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation and network of ten Midwest service centers to OAO Severstal in July of 2008 for $1.23 billion. In addition to its $10 million acquisition of Amtex Steel in November 2009, Esmark also acquired Meadville, Pa.-based Excalibur Machine Company, Inc. for $3.5 million in cash. Excalibur Machine is a precision machining and steel fabrication firm that supplies parts, sub-assemblies and materials handling equipment to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) engaged in the transportation, materials handling, heavy construction and power generation industries. Excalibur is now part of Esmark’s Industrial Group subsidiary.
