Olympic Steel completes merger with Ryerson Holding Corp.

Olympic Steel Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, and Ryerson Holding Corp. of Chicago completed their all-stock merger in mid-February. The transaction was announced in November of last year.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Olympic Steel shareholders receive 1.71 Ryerson shares of common stock for every Olympic Steel share of common stock owned, resulting in them owning approximately 37 percent of the combined company.

The merger is expected to be immediately accretive to shareholders of the combined entity and is expected to result in a reduced pro forma leverage ratio of less than three times, assuming partial credit for synergies, according to KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM), headquartered in Cleveland, which served as lead financial advisor to Olympic.

When the merger was first announced, Ryerson said the acquisition would make it the second-largest operator of North American metals service centers, which are steady generators of metals for recycling.

Ryerson has about 4,300 employees operating from approximately 110 locations, predominantly in North America, while Olympic Steel operates more than 50 sites, all in North America.

The companies have said they expect the merger to generate approximately $120 million in annual synergies after two years given procurement scale, efficiency gains, commercial enhancement and network optimization.

Ryerson President and CEO Eddie Lehner now serves as CEO of the combined company, and Richard T. Marabito, CEO of Olympic Steel, is president and chief operating officer.