Klöckner announces sale of SSC Becker
Klöckner Steel Distribution Group & Co is making progress in selling its Becker Group unit and is drawing up a list of takeover candidates, Kallanish notes.
The Becker Group sale process, which was announced in January, "is proceeding according to plan," Kloeckner said in announcing his quarterly results.
It says that several non-binding offers have been received since March 31 and that potential buyers are currently in the due diligence phase.
The Becker Group includes the Becker Stahl and Becker Aluminum-Service steel service centers in Benen, as well as Becker Stainless in southern Germany and Umformtechnik Stendal in eastern Germany.
Becker Stahl is Germany's largest steel production service center with a capacity of 1 million tons of coils/strips per year. The company was sold by its founder and then managing owner Ulrich Lollert to Klöckner about 16 years ago.
The intention to sell Becker was announced at the same time as it became known about the takeover of the American group Worthington Steel. Kloeckner did not say whether the two steps were related, or whether the sale of Becker was part of negotiations with Worthington.
Market sources believe that this is the case, with reports that Worthington was interested in Kloeckner's successful operations in the United States.
Author: Christian Kel
Kallanish.com