An aerial photograph of the ThyssenKrupp plant, October 2010 in Calvert, Ala. (Photo courtesy of ThyssenKrupp) Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional SA is preparing a proposal to acquire ThyssenKrupp AG's Steel Americas unit, according to Brazil's Valor Economico business newspaper, as reported by Reuters.
CSN has hired the investment banking unit of Banco Bradesco to advise on a potential bid for ThyssenKrupp's Calvert mill and its 73 percent stake in steel mill Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico, Valor Economico reported, citing unnamed sources.
The newspaper didn't cite the amount CSN would offer the German steelmaker, but analysts in the past year have calculated a value between 3 billion and 4 billion euros for each mill, or $8.8 billion combined.
ThyssenKrupp said in May that it wants to sell its carbon steel operations in Alabama and Brazil, following severe first-half losses and years of delays and cost overruns. It has already segregated its stainless steel business, renaming it Inoxum, and plans, later this year, to sell it to Finnish company Outokumpu Oyi.
In June, ThyssenKrupp appointed Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to conduct the Steel Americas sale.
Last month, Valor Economico reported that ThyssenKrupp was inviting non-binding offers of purchase by Sept. 28 for its plants in Calvert and Brazil. About 10 groups showed interest in the sale, including the steelmakers Posco, Ternium SA, CSN and ArcelorMittal, according to the newspaper.
ThyssenKrupp employs about 1,450 people for the carbon steel side of its Washington County facility. Another 750 work on the stainless side there.