MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentina’s Techint moves strongly into Brazil steel business
Paolo Rocca chairman of Ternium and Tenaris in a recent visit to President Cristina Fernandez The Techint Group agreed to pay 5.03 billion Reais (2.7 billion dollars) for a 27.7% voting stake in Brazil’s Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais to boost access to the largest market for steel in Latin America.
Techint, through its Ternimum SA and Tenaris SA units, will buy 139.7 million ordinary shares at 36 Reais a piece in the company from Camargo Correa SA, Grupo Votorantim and Usiminas’s workers pension fund, Ternium said in a statement.
The deal will give Ternium, the second-largest steelmaker in Latin America and Tenaris, the world’s biggest maker of seamless pipes, greater access to the Brazilian market for flat steel used in cars and home appliances. They join Nippon Steel Corp. in the controlling group, thwarting takeover efforts by rival Cia Siderurgic Nacional, CSN.
Allegedly last September CSN Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Steinbruch held talks with Camargo and Votorantim to buy their voting stock for 40 Reais each. CSN more than doubled its voting stake in Usiminas this year to 11.66% as of Nov. 18 and quadrupled its preferred-stock holdings to 20.14%.
Nippon Steel, Ternium, Tenaris and the employees’ pension fund will now own a combined 63.9% of voting shares, Usiminas said in a regulatory filing. Nippon Steel, which previously shared control of the steelmaker with Camargo and Votorantim and separately agreed to buy 8.5 million shares, will hold 29.5% of the voting stock, while the pension fund will hold 6.8%, Usiminas said in the filing.
“With Nippon Steel, Usiminas and Ternium working together we will be able to enhance each company’s competitiveness in technology, quality and cost efficiency and to offer a wider product range,” Ternium said in the statement.
Most decisions of the controlling block will have to be approved by a 65% majority after an investor’s agreement was amended, Ternium said. Ternium and Tenaris will finance the purchase with cash on hand and debt, the statement said.
“The business environment surrounding Usiminas continues to be challenging due to the rising prices of raw materials, intense competition among steel companies in the global market and continued appreciation of the Brazilian Real,” Usiminas said in the regulatory filing.
Usiminas, based in Belo Horizonte in Brazil, was established in 1958 after the country agreed to create a joint venture with Japan. Japanese investors took then a 40% stake in the steelmaker, according to Nippon Steel’s website.
Selling the Usiminas stake is part of Votorantim’s strategy to focus on its “core” businesses such as cement, metals, long steel, pulp and orange juice, Votorantim said in a statement distributed by an external public relations firm in Brazil. Camargo Correa said in a separate statement on its website that it will focus on the infrastructure industry after a “strategic reorientation” prompted the stake sale.
Techint is controlled by the Italian-Argentine Rocca family through Luxembourg-based holding company San Faustin NV and both Ternium and Tenaris have their headquarters in Buenos Aires. Paolo Rocca is chairman of both Ternium and Tenaris while his brother Gianfelice chairs San Faustin.
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Read all commentsyou got to love neighbourly nations working soo good together even if UK doesn't like it. if things keep on going this good mercosur might replace NATO or even UN since they are both broke, hungry and at war against the world and echother. in any case this deal is a great opportunity for industrial growth.
Nov 28th, 2011 - 10:00 pm 0“you got to love neighbourly nations working soo good together”
Nov 29th, 2011 - 05:01 am 0That's one of they keys to success.
“UK doesn't like it.”
Forget about those ugly brits, they're finished though the people yet have to figure that out. they keep drinking the kool aid that they are 'fine”. More austerity measures are comming, not fun but oh boy some of the brits here don't mind it at all since they are so busy with the falklands nonsense (a place they will never visit).
“mercosur might replace NATO ”
Not going to happen, and should not happen. Mercosul/Mercosul is just to work together but on other issues, each nation for itself. that's the way it should be.
“NATO or even UN since they are both broke, hungry and at war against the world and echother”
NATO, IMF, World Bank, UN are broke. and yes they need a war so that the peope do not pay attention or less attention to the real thieves who went to far (like in the past, ww1 that lead to ww2) and with the idea they can get out of it (though they know the ponzi scheme is finished).
“this deal is a great opportunity for industrial growth”.
Yes, it's not the end of the world, it's the end of as we know it, the so called west is broke and wealth is transfered to the south (to the southern western hemispheer of america , africa and asia). Something the elite thought about it, but did not know it would go that fast. let's not forget, BRIC was created by a goldman sachs banker and made it clear..the US and Europe aren't in the game, but what he forgot is, neither are those banks who created this mess. Some will go bust and if they do business in South America, they face horrible scrutiny and go to jail if there is fraud, what they hate (remember, free trade for them only) and in Asia, mainly China, if they are involved in fraud, they will get hanged.
Everything is rising in Argentina, from inflation to everything but not the amount of money in people's pockets. I'm glad to see the faces of those who voted for CFK and now after the elections she is showing them what THE MODEL is all about, enjoy it hahaha
Nov 29th, 2011 - 07:08 am 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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