RG Steel Files Bankruptcy Protection

RG Steel LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. RG Steel was formed in March, 2011, following the company’s purchase of three steel mills in Sparrows Point, Md., Wheeling, W.V. and Warren, Ohio.

John Goodwin, CEO of RG Steel, says, “Despite the company’s aggressive cost reduction efforts, significant improvements in its cost structure, and substantial investment capital, the company has been unable to overcome the impact of the continued deterioration of the market and the inability of the industry to sustain a meaningful recovery.”

“By voluntarily filing for Chapter 11, we will have the opportunity to use the court-supervised process to implement an orderly asset preservation plan and explore other options, including soliciting offers to purchase all or certain of the company’s assets. We have already begun a sales process aimed at maximizing value for all stakeholders and preserving the jobs created when RG Steel acquired these facilities,” Goodwin says.

In conjunction with the filing, RG Steel has filed a number of first-day motions that will allow it to transition into a bankruptcy process in an orderly manner. Those motions include requests to make wage and salary payments and continue other employee-related programs.

In a release, RG Steel says that any joint venture in which the company has an interest will continue to conduct business as usual and will not be subject to the company’s bankruptcy case.