Cleveland-Cliffs gets acquisition OK from Canada

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has received a no-action letter from the Canadian Competition Bureau which the Cleveland-based metals producers says confirms that the Commissioner of Competition does not intend to challenge Cliffs’ pending acquisition of Stelco Holdings Inc.

According to Cleveland-Cliffs, it remains on track to close the transaction of the Canada-based blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace steelmaker this quarter.

The Competition Bureau green light follows the expiration of an antitrust-related waiting period relating to the acquisition that is overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice.

About three weeks earlier, Cliffs announced it had successfully amended its $4.75 billion asset-based lending (ABL) facility as part of the financing arrangements to buy Stelco.

“We have achieved three important milestones this week toward closing the acquisition of Stelco,” Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves says. “First, yesterday morning, we announced the expiration of the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust review period. Second, in the afternoon, we successfully raised the remaining capital to fund the transaction. Third, this morning, we are happy to announce this clearance from the Canadian Competition Bureau, which officially concludes all required antitrust reviews related to the acquisition. We look forward to closing the transaction once the remaining conditions to closing are satisfied.”

Cleveland-Cliffs is vertically integrated steel producer, from the mining of iron ore, production of pellets and direct reduced iron, and processing of ferrous scrap through primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling and tubing. The company now employs about 28,000 people in the United States and Canada.