OREANDA-NEWS. On November 12, 2007 Metinvest Holding LLC announced that one of its subsidiaries has signed the definitive share purchase agreement to acquire from the Malacalza family 100% interest in Trametal SpA and Spartan UK Ltd for an undisclosed amount, reported the press-centre of Metinvest.

The transaction is now being notified to the relevant competition authorities and the approval is expected to be obtained within 60 days. Metinvest plans to combine Trametal and Spartan with its existing Italian steel-rolling company, Ferriera Valsider SpA, thereby creating a company with more than 1 million metric tons of plate rolling capacity in the European Union. The transaction represents the first step of an expected further cooperation between the two groups in the fields of the steel industry devoted to provide specific specialization to each of them.

Mr. Igor Syry, the General Director of Metinvest Holding LLC stated: “We are extremely proud of today’s acquisition and believe that Trametal and Spartan perfectly fit our long-term strategy of producing more value-added products and improving the company industrial balance. Trametal and Spartan are excellent companies, producing high-quality steel plate and having a reputation for outstanding customer service. They will make excellent additions to our company and will be fully integrated into our corporate structure.

We plan to maintain the existing high standards of customer service and the current client networks and sales channels. Furthermore, we will keep in place the existing management team, employees, and business model. Lastly, we plan to invest in these companies and help them develop further.

This acquisition will allow us to enhance our presence in the Italian market, which we view as a key market for us. As a result of this acquisition, Metinvest will have more than 1 million metric tons of plate rolling capacity in the European Union.

Furthermore, we recognize the outstanding work that the Malacalza family has done over the years, building Trametal and Spartan into market leaders. As such, we are discussing the possibility of having them acquire a minority stake and becoming partners with us in the new company.”

Note:
Trametal SpA and Spartan UK Ltd are plate rolling facilities located in San Giorgio de Nogaro, Italy and Newcastle, UK, respectively. The companies had combined sales of more than ? 370 million and produced more than 536 thousand metric tons of plate in 2006. Ferriera Valsider is a facility producing plate and hot-rolled coil located in Verona, Italy. It had sales of more than ? 265 million and produced 515 thousand metric tons of rolled-steel products.

Metinvest is the largest privately-owned corporation in Ukraine and is a leading player in the world steel industry. Metinvest is a vertically-integrated holding, with assets in coal and iron ore mining, coke production, iron ore enrichment, and steel and steel product production.

Metinvest has 19 industrial entities, which together produce about 6 million metric tons of coking coal, over 7 million metric tons of coke, more than 40 million metric tons of iron ore products, and more than 11 million metric tons of crude steel per year. The Holding’s Ukrainian entities are located primarily in eastern and central Ukraine.

Metinvest was advised by Lazard & Co and Puopolo Geffers Rosen Bosin & Iacobelli, while the Malacalza family was advised by UBS and Bonelli Erede Pappalardo together with Sergio M. Carbone.