Almost three years after U.S. Steel Canada filed for creditor protection, the company is emerging under new ownership and its historical name.
Stelco is now officially owned by Bedrock Industries after its offer to the purchase the company was approved by the bankruptcy court earlier this month.
McMaster business professor, Marvin Ryder says Bedrock management has indicated it will maintain the status quo for the time being with Nanticoke making the steel and Hamilton finishing it.
However, Ryder says management has also indicated they are interested in launching more profitable products and diversifying the product line, although they haven’t given any specifics.
Ryder says he believes Bedrock Industries won’t run Stelco in neutral, but will be aggressive in making substantial changes to the markets it targets and the products it offers.
Stelco’s parent company, U.S. Steel Canada, has had its supervised restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act before the courts since the fall of 2014. U.S. Steel announced that it intended to sell all of its remaining operations in Hamilton.
It wasn’t until November of last year that a deal was finally struck to sell the Canadian operations including the facilities in Nanticoke to Bedrock Industries.
Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel says “we’re turning a page and commencing a new and more promising chapter in the history of Stelco.”
The bankruptcy court judge approved the steel company’s sale to Bedrock Industries in a Toronto courtroom on June 6.
Bill Ferguson, president of Steelworkers’ Local 8782, is hopeful for the future.
He describes the agreement as a “milestone,” noting that “the next few weeks are going to be really busy” ironing out details.
Ferguson adds that it’s a “compromise” in which all parties “gave in some sense.”
Bill Aziz, Stelco’s chief restructuring officer, said it’s the first time he’s ever seen contaminated land sold to fund pensions.
He calls it an “innovative way to deal with the land” and a way to “provide additional funding for pensions” in order to create value for retirees.
The sale could not be finalized until details around land transfers and pensions were worked out.
Bedrock describes itself as a privately funded holding company focused on owning and operating metals, mining and natural resources assets and related special situations.
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