The
Stel Salaried Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator
for permission to post the following article published in the August 27, 2007
edition
The key players who put the Stelco-U.S. Steel
deal together
The Hamilton Spectator
(Aug 27, 2007)
U.S. Steel
Headquartered in
Pittsburgh and led by chairman and CEO John P. Surma.
Annual production
capacity: 26.8 million tons
Net sales (2006):
$15.7 billion
Employees: 45,000
(half in the United States, half in foreign operations)
Operations:
Primary steelmaking operations are in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Slovakia and Serbia. Also runs iron ore
mining and taconite pellet operations in Minnesota and coke-making facilities
in Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Recent moves:
Recently paid $2.1 billion for Lone Star Technologies, a Dallas-based provider
of oil field pipe products.
Stelco
Headquartered in
Hamilton and led by president and CEO Rodney Mott.
Annual production
capacity: 4.5 to 5 million tons
Net sales (2006):
$2.5 billion
Employees: About
3,600
Operations:
Primary steelmaking operations in Hamilton (Hamilton Steel) and Nanticoke (Lake
Erie Steel). Also owns 44.6 per cent stake in the Wabush iron ore mine in
Labrador, which is slated to be sold to Toronto's Consolidated Thompson Iron
Mines Ltd.
Recent moves: In
June, Stelco announced plans to explore a "range of possible
alternatives" including a sale.
THE MAIN PLAYERS
Rodney Mott
President and
CEO, Stelco Inc.
An American steel
industry veteran, Mott was hired in 2005 to revive a battered Stelco after it
emerged from two years of bankruptcy protection. He arrived with a reputation
as a turnaround man, having resuscitated International Steel Group, the company
formed from a collection of U.S. steel plants destined for the scrap heap.
A Pennsylvania
native who rose through the ranks at U.S. Steel and Nucor, the straight-talking
Mott moved immediately to cut costs at Stelco. He shut down outdated facilities
and cut Stelco's workforce through buyouts and attrition. And from the
beginning, he plainly stated his desire to see Stelco be swallowed by a bigger
fish or even become a buyer of assets in its own right.
Following a rush
of takeovers in the Canadian steel industry, Stelco announced plans in June to
explore a possible sale.
John P. Surma
Chairman and CEO,
United States Steel Corp.
An accountant by
trade, Surma, 53, was appointed chief executive of U.S. Steel in 2004 after
serving as chief financial officer at the company. His resume includes top
roles at gas-convenience store chain Speedway SuperAmerica and Marathon Ashland
Petroleum. Described as understated and analytical, Surma was chief executive
at U.S. Steel when it eyed Stelco in 2004. The Pennsylvania-born father of
three is an avid hockey player, and was inducted into the University of
Pennsylvania's Penn State Icers in 2005.
Courtney Pratt
Chairman, Stelco
Inc.
A former Stelco
CEO, Pratt is head of Stelco's board and a member of the special committee of
directors assigned to assist in Stelco's "strategic review." That
review, announced in June, includes a sale. Pratt took the CEO post at Stelco
in 2004 with a resume that included time at the helm of mining company Noranda
Inc. and Toronto Hydro Corp. He led Stelco through one of the most complicated
and controversial bankruptcy protection cases in Canadian corporate history,
wrestling with creditors, shareholders and union leaders.