A Texas-based steel products manufacturer with EAF capacity that produces a diverse line of high-quality value-added steel products was recently acquired by a global industrial alliance and added to the latter’s resources, energy, transportation, and infrastructure group.
Liberty Steel USA’s acquisition of Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. (KCI) from Contran Corporation, creates one of the country’s largest producers of wire rod. Liberty Steel USA is part of the GFG Alliance; a global group of energy, mining, metals, engineering, logistics, and financial services businesses, headquartered in London. Sanjeev Gupta is the Executive Chairman.
Keystone Steel and Wire, a division of KCI, has a 100+ year history in the steel and steel products business. The deal includes Keystone’s top-producing wire rod facility, which houses a 1.1mt capacity electric arc furnace (EAF), and an MBQ/SBQ bar mill.
Liberty Steel USA will have up to 1.8mtpa of EAF melting capacity, 2mtpa of wire rod rolling capacity, significant value-added downstream businesses and over 1,300 employees. The combined company will have operations in Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas, and Georgia.
“KCI and its businesses offer Liberty the chance to merge our existing U.S. steel business with one of the country’s most productive wire rod operations,” said GFG North American CIO Grant Quasha. “Combined with Liberty Steel Georgetown, KCI will increase our downstream capabilities, create critical synergies, add strong management and provide better value and products for customers as we advance our U.S. steel business to our 5mt pa goal.”
Main photo caption: GFG North American Chief Investment Officer Grant Quasha and Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta
