Private equity firm Atlas Holdings to acquire Evraz North America

“This a major investment in creating a more vibrant domestic steel production industry right here in the United States and Canada,” Atlas Partner Sam Astor said in a statement on Friday.

Atlas Holdings did not specify the purchase price or any other terms of the deal. The Wall Street Journal reports that the PE firm could pay as much as $500 million for the company.

If the deal is finalized, it will bring to a close a sales process that started nearly three years ago.

Russia’s Evraz plc put its North American operations up for sale in August 2022. The move came after Evraz plc, “the ultimate parent of Evraz North America,” was sanctioned by the United Kingdom earlier that year, Atlas Holdings said.

The sanctions stemmed from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. After Evraz plc was hit with sanctions, Evraz NA operated as an independent entity.

Market participants for years have questioned who might buy the company. (Someone has asked about it in almost every SMU ‘Market Chatter’ – from August 2023 until just recently.) Sources in the financial sector had told SMU over the years that sanctions-related issues could be a hurdle to a sale.

What they’re saying

Atlas Holdings worked with “every level of government” in the US and in Canada, as well as unions on both sides of the border, to make the deal a reality, Astor said.

“Despite the global dynamics of the steel market and unique challenges facing the business, the Evraz team has continued to drive the business forward, and we want to thank them for their hard work and dedication,” Astor added.

Evraz NA’s top executive also cheered the deal.

“Atlas shares our belief that a strong future starts with investing in the people who make it happen. Their strategic approach and track record of operational investment make them the right partner for our next chapter,” Evraz NA President and CEO James ‘Skip’ Herald said in a statement.

“With their support, we will be able to accelerate innovation, strengthen our operations, and continue delivering the high-quality steel our customers have relied on since 1881,” he added.

Key operations and figures

Evraz NA operates two electric-arc furnace facilities, four rolling mills, eight tube mills, and 17 scrap recycling facilities. It has an annual steelmaking capacity of 2.3 million tons and a finished steel capacity of 3.5 million tons per year, including tubular products. It is a leading producer of rail, pipe, and steel plate.

In the US, Evraz NA operates a plate mill in Portland, Ore., as well as a solar-powered EAF mill in Pueblo, Colo. The Pueblo mill makes seamless oil country tubular goods, wire rod and coiled rebar, as well as rail. Notably, the Pueblo mill is one of the largest rail mills in the US.

In Canada, Evraz NA is primarily known for its OCTG and line pipe operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its facilities there serve Western Canada’s important oil and gas markets.

The company also operates recycling operations on both sides of the border.

Evraz NA employs approximately 3,400 people across the US and Canada.

Atlas Holdings, meanwhile, owns and operates 27 companies across sectors as diverse as metals processing, automotive, and power generation. The company said it has more than 57,000 employees.

A brief history of Evraz NA

The 1881 date Herald mentioned refers to the founding of the Pueblo mill. It was initially called the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I), and it was the first integrated mill west of the Mississippi River, according to ColoradoBiz. CF&I’s mission was, in large part, to serve booming demand for rail in the American West.

Evraz became part of that history when it acquired the former Oregon Steel Mills in January 2007 for $2.3 billion. It expanded further after SSAB acquired the former IPSCO Inc., a leading steelmaker with operations spanning the US and Canada, in May 2007 in a deal valued at $7.7 billion.

SSAB kept Ipsco’s plate mills in Iowa and Alabama. But it sold the rest of the company, primarily energy tubulars operations, to Evraz for $4.03 billion in March 2008.

Evraz and TMK, another Russian steelmaker, then split up Ipsco’s assets. The Canadian operations went to Evraz, and the US operations (minus the two plate mills) to TMK.

TMK subsequently exited the domestic market in 2020 with the sale of its US assets to steel pipe and tube maker Tenaris for $1.1 billion.