Dec 5 2006
Steel Technologies Inc. today announced that its joint venture company, Mi-Tech Steel Inc., has entered into an agreement in principle to purchase 100% of the stock in Mitsui Auto Steel Canada Inc. (MASCI) from Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Mitsui & Co. (Canada). Terms of the acquisition of MASCI were not disclosed.
Mi-Tech Steel, Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is a corporate 50/50 joint venture between Steel Technologies Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, and Mitsui Steel Holdings Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Steel Technologies is a leading world-class intermediate steel processor and converter of flat-rolled steel. Mitsui & Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified trading, investment and service enterprise operating globally.
MASCI currently operates a steel processing facility in Cambridge, Ontario. Following the completion of the purchase, which is expected to occur in January 2007, Mi-Tech Steel intends to proceed with a follow-on investment of approximately $12 million U.S. dollars to construct a new steel processing operation in Woodstock, Ontario. Plans are to construct an 80,000-square-foot operation that will have slitting capabilities from .015-.250 thickness and up to 72 inches in width. The new facility is expected to be operational in mid-2008. The Cambridge and Woodstock locations in Canada will expand Mi-Tech Steel's facilities to six, with additional steel service centers located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Greensburg, Indiana, Decatur, Alabama, and Madison, Mississippi.
"Mi-Tech Steel is very excited about the opportunities that the purchase of MASCI and our follow on investment in Woodstock present," said Stuart N. Ray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mi-Tech Steel. "We will have a great platform from which to serve our Canadian customers. MASCI has an outstanding reputation servicing customers such as Toyota from its Cambridge facility, and we hope to build on that tradition. Our new facility in Woodstock will service a broad range of tier-one suppliers that support Canadian automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers, including Toyota.
"In 2005, Mi-Tech Steel became only the second company in North America to be designated a Toyota Control Company, which enables us to work closely with their designated tier-one suppliers. Mi-Tech Steel works hard to exceed customers' expectations, and we have identified the Canadian market as a great opportunity to support Toyota as it moves toward the 2008 opening of its Woodstock assembly facility," Ray concluded.
"Mi-Tech Steel clearly is the market leader in steel processing among the 'new domestic' automotive companies, and their investment in Canada expands its prominent position in the marketplace," stated Bradford Ray, Chairman and CEO of Steel Technologies.
"Mitsui is proud of our partnership with Steel Technologies and our 20-year relationship through our Mi-Tech Steel joint venture," said Keiji Kasamatsu, General Manager, Automotive Steel Division Iron & Steel Products Business Unit, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. "The integration of Mitsui's Canadian service center operation and Mi-Tech Steel will prompt synergy and bolster our position in the North American region. We look forward to continued success with automotive OEMs and part manufacturers in Ontario."