ISG, Bethlehem Sign Purchase Agreement

Bethlehem Steel Corp. has signed an asset purchase agreement to sell substantially all of its assets to International Steel Group of Cleveland.

The agreement includes the sale of Bethlehem's steelmaking and finishing operations, its interest in joint ventures and surplus property.

Bethlehem's board of directors approved the agreement in principle in early February, and the asset purchase agreement was signed earlier this week.

The agreement is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court having jurisdiction of Bethlehem's chapter 11 case, required governmental approvals and other consents, and the resolution of certain claims of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

A motion to approve the bidding procedures for the sale will be filed by Bethlehem in the next few days with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The proposed sale to ISG will be subject to higher and better offers consistent with the approved bidding procedures as well as subsequent court approval of the sale and the APA.

Upon completion of the sale, Bethlehem's assets will constitute the larger portion of what will become the nation's largest integrated steel company. International Steel Group, with Bethlehem's assets, will have shipment capability of 16 million tons.

Bethlehem's assets include steelmaking facilities in Burns Harbor, Ind.; Sparrows Point, Md.; Steelton, Pa., and Coatesville, Pa. as well as finishing facilities in Lackawanna, N.Y.; Conshohocken, Pa., and Columbus, Ohio. In addition, Bethlehem participates in several joint ventures. Other assets include land on the sites of former Bethlehem operations, primarily in New York and Pennsylvania.