SDI Completes Acquisition of Qualitech

Steel Dynamics, Inc. has completed the purchase of Qualitech Steel SBQ LLC's special bar quality mini-mill assets in Pittsboro, Ind. The company paid $45 million for these assets. The company previously announced plans to invest between $60-$70 million of additional capital to convert the Qualitech facility to the production of merchant bars and shapes and reinforcing bar products. The company does not currently plan to produce special bar quality products when the facility is restarted, but has not ruled out the possibility of producing SBQ products there in the future.

"Acquiring this mill fits our strategy of pursuing product growth and diversification," Keith Busse, SDI's president and CEO, said. "We feel that we have acquired a nearly-new Indiana production facility at a very reasonable cost, and, with our planned reconfiguration costs, it should enable us to enter the merchant bar and shapes market as a low-cost producer of these products."

Completion of the acquisition follows a court decision, made last month, denying Nucor Corp.’s request to prevent the acquisition from taking place. Nucor, which bid on the mill earlier, had claimed that a deal between Nucor and Qualitech had already been completed.

However, the Superior Court of Hendricks County, Ind., found that Nucor had little chance of prevailing on its claim that it had an earlier and enforceable purchase agreement to buy the Pittsboro mill. Nucor has appealed that ruling.

In light of the trial court's ruling, however, Steel Dynamics has elected to close the transaction and to begin the process of engineering work and conversion planning. The company also intends to proceed with the preparation and filing of the necessary environmental air permit application.