Nucor Acquires Canadian Steelmaker

Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C., has announced an offer to acquire Canada’s Harris Steel Group Inc., saying the deal “has the full support of the boards of directors of both Nucor and Harris Steel Group.”

According to a Nucor news release, the top executives of Harris Steel, including members of the Harris family, “have entered into a lock-up agreement [to] deliver 13.7 million shares, representing in excess of 50 percent of the shares of Harris Steel, to Nucor.”

“The acquisition of Harris Steel Group significantly advances Nucor's downstream growth initiatives,” says Nucor Chairman and CEO Dan DiMicco. “Harris Steel has been a strong partner of ours for almost three years, is a company that we know well, has a management team whom we respect, and will be a highly complementary fit with Nucor. Harris Steel provides Nucor with immediate and broad geographical reach and with considerable scale and growth opportunities."

Nucor has indicated that, providing regulatory approval in both the United States and Canada is received, the company “plans to allow Harris Steel to operate as a separate, wholly owned subsidiary.”

Harris Steel is divided into three business units:

• Harris Rebar, which is involved in the fabrication and placing of concrete reinforcing steel and the design and installation of concrete post-tensioning systems
• Laurel Steel which is a manufacturer and distributor of wire and wire products, welded wire mesh and cold finished bar, and
• Fisher & Ludlow which is a manufacturer and distributor of heavy industrial steel grating, aluminum grating and expanded metal.

According to its news release, Nucor will pay C$46.25 in cash for each share of Harris Steel. The offer places an approximate value of C$1.25 billion (US $1.07 billion) on the equity of Harris Steel.

The move is one of several made by Nucor this decade to expand its business. In just the past two years, the company has acquired Connecticut Steel in that state, Marion Steel in Ohio, and has announced plans to build a new facility in the Memphis, Tennessee, area.