Canadian steel producer Stelco plans $150-million IPO

Mining News - The Hamilton-based company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection three months ago and is owned by U.S. restructuring firm Bedrock Industries Group LLC, plans to raise $150-million in the share sale that could have a total market value of about $1 billion.

Goldman Sachs & Co. and BMO Capital Markets are acting as joint bookrunners for the offering, while the company is preparing an IPO marketing campaign that targets Canadian and U.S. investors.

Besides making early payments to its pension plans, the money would be injected into the company’s mills that produce galvanized and galvannealed products, primarily used for construction and automotive applications.

The century-old steelmaker operates two facilities in Ontario, one in Nanticoke that processes 3.7 million tonnes a year, and another one in Hamilton, whose capacity is of 2.8 million tonnes of steel annually.

In a recent restructuring, Stelco was able to eliminate $3-billion in debt and $1.4-billion in pension and benefit obligations. Previous to Bedrock’s takeover, the company had already filed for bankruptcy and finally emerged from protection in 2007 when U.S. Steel Corp bought it for $1.1 billion.

According to the Globe and Mail, as of June 30, the company’s only red mark on its balance sheet was $68-million drawn on a $375-million asset-backed credit facility.