Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation announced September 14 that it has completed its acquisition of Chaparral Steel Company, broadening Gerdau Ameristeel's product portfolio and giving it a full range of structural steel products. Chaparral's shareholders approved the merger at a special shareholder meeting on September 12.
On July 10, 2007, Gerdau Ameristeel announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Chaparral Steel, the second-largest producer of structural steel products in
"Today is a defining moment in the history of our company. This solidifies our position as one of the major steel producers in our region with a major market position in structural steel products in addition to rebar and merchant bar products," said Mario Longhi, president and CEO, Gerdau Ameristeel. "We are excited to offer our customers the broadest range of long steel products in the mini-mill sector."
"The completion of this acquisition confirms our global strategy of being one of the consolidators in the steel industry," says Andre Gerdau Johannpeter, CEO of the Gerdau Group. "We are confident that the growth of our North American operations will add value and bring benefits for our customers, shareholders, employees and the communities in which we operate."
Gerdau Ameristeel's acquisition of Chaparral Steel Company is being financed, in part, by a US$1,150,000 Bridge Loan Facility and a US$2,750,000 Term Loan Facility which have been provided by two separate international syndicates of banks, each arranged by ABN AMRO Bank N.V., HSBC and J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. Subsidiaries of Gerdau Ameristeel are the borrowers under the facilities.
