The Stel Salaried
Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator for permission
to post the following article,
published in the
February 4, 2006 edition
The Canadian Press
HAMILTON (Feb 4, 2006)
Stelco Inc. is asking a judge to allow the company to
transfer parts of its business into separate limited partnerships once the
insolvent steelmaker emerges from bankruptcy protection in the next few weeks.
A court will decide next Friday whether to approve the
request, the Hamilton steel producer said late yesterday.
Under the proposal made Jan. 20, Hamilton steel operations,
Lake Erie steel, Hamilton coke, Lake Erie coke, Hamilton energy, Lake Erie
energy, mining, Hamilton land and Lake Erie land, would be reorganized into
limited partnerships.
As a condition of Stelco's financing, the company's
financial and corporate structure must be approved by Tricap Management Ltd.
and the other equity sponsors under Stelco's court-approved restructuring plan.
Stelco's sponsors believe the proposed reorganization will
lessen costs by allowing those units to be financed "in the most effective
way possible," the company said in a release after stock markets closed
yesterday.
By transferring those businesses into limited partnerships,
it may also limit their liability to additional claims as the steelmaker
emerges from bankruptcy protection.
Stelco Inc. recently sold Stelwire Ltd., Stelfil Ltee and
Norambar Inc. -- to Mittal Steel, the world's biggest steelmaker, for $30
million.
The company has been restructuring under bankruptcy
protection for more than two years.