Steel deals in Europe
There is no let-up in the consolidation of the steel industry worldwide (here and here). This time it is the coming together of two Austrian firms, Voestalpine and Böhler Uddeholm. Voestalpine recent announced it now holds 55% of Böhler Uddeholm shares, and the full buyout will be for $5.0 billion.
Böhler Uddeholm turned down an offer from private equity firm CVC earlier this year. Voestalpine, formerly state-owned, is the largest Austrian steelmaker, while Böhler Uddeholm is about half its side. The move comes after record profits for Voestalpine.
Meanwhile German-based steel-and-metals distributor Klöckner & Co. has made a dozen smaller acquisitions the last few years alone. These companies are all maker of specialty steel products used in industries like construction, telecommunications. In the past two years, the company acquired a variety of local distributors:
- US steel distributors Premier Steel (Louisiana) and Primary Steel (Connecticut)
- UK-based Westok
- US-based Action Steel (Indiana)
- Switzerland-based Gauss & Co AG
- France's Tournier Holding SAS and Targe SA
- Dutch-based Teuling Staal B.V
- Spain's Aesga
- German companies Edelstahlservice Verkaufsgesellschaft, the steel distribution of Max Carl GmbH & Co KG, and the Zweygart Fachhandelsgruppe.
Klöckner is the #1 non-mill distributor of steel in Europe and North America (through its Namasco subsidiary), That puts it as a middleman between the steel mills that process raw sheet, tube, and bar steel and the big customers who buy it. Klöckner takes care of rendering steel into appropriate lengths and cuts. As in industry, when one layer (steel mills) consolidates, so does the next layer down (steel distribution).
