USA Expansion

Liberty Steel USA catapults forward with the acquisition of Keystone Consolidated Industries.

Liberty Steel USA has taken a substantial step forward toward our ambition of becoming a major US steel producer by completing the purchase of Keystone Consolidated Industries (KCI), for US$320m from Contran Corporation.

This move positions Liberty as one of the foremost producers of wire rod in the US and provides a platform for GFG to grow our US GREENSTEEL capacity to 5m tons per annum by 2020.

With this addition, Liberty Steel USA will grow to over 1,300 employees, up to 1.8Mtpa of EAF melting capacity, 2Mtpa of wire rod rolling capacity and significant value-added downstream businesses. Adding to our revitalised steelworks in Georgetown, South Carolina that were restarted successfully in June 2018, we will expand to have operations in Illinois, Ohio, New Mexico, Texas and Georgia.

This strategic acquisition is a core part of GFG’s GREENSTEEL vision to become a leading U.S. producer of high quality, cleanly produced steel, said Sanjeev Gupta, our Executive Chairman.

As we look ahead to the future, GFG will benefit from Keystone’s century-long history, its robust operations, and its reputation for producing top quality steel.

L/R GFG North American Chief Investment Officer Grant Quasha and Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta

GFG Alliance team with Keystone CEO, Chris Armstrong

Completion of the deal, which was supported by large North American banks helps pave the way towards a proposed US IPO of Liberty Steel USA, which will be led by Credit Suisse.

Combined with Liberty Steel Georgetown, KCI will increase our downstream capabilities, create critical synergies, add strong management and provide better value and products for customers as we advance our U.S. steel business to our 5Mtpa goal, said GFG North American CIO Grant Quasha.

The addition of KCI to our existing Liberty Steel Georgetown steelworks will form the core of GFG’s North American business which we are looking to grow further with additional acquisitions in the coming months. Plans for the U.S business include a diverse mix of assets, ranging from the revitalisation of steel plants that had previously been taken offline, such as Georgetown, to those which are operating and performing very well like KCI. While the current portfolio is focused on value added long steel products, the company is actively pursuing additional acquisitions in flat products and further downstream capabilities to drive towards 5Mtpa of capacity by 2020.

L/R GFG Alliance team in US including CFO Samir Kalra, Development Director Vikrant Sharma, CIO Grant Quasha and Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta