The Stel Salaried Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator for permission to post the following article published in the October 27, 2007 edition
Applause for Stelco takeover
The Canadian Press
TORONTO (Oct 27, 2007)
After years of financial problems and
restructuring, Hamilton-based Stelco Inc. moved closer to the end of its life
as an independent Canadian company with little pomp other than a round of
applause yesterday as shareholders formally approved a takeover by
Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.
At the big steelmaker's last meeting, 88 per
cent of shares were voted, with virtually all in favour of the $1.1-billion US
deal.
The five-minute meeting in Toronto didn't
include any questions. "U.S. Steel is the right company to come in and
provide a lot of security for the people (at Stelco)," CEO Rodney Mott
said after the meeting.
He said he wasn't aware of any
"concrete" plans for Stelco once it's merged into U.S. Steel, but
expected the new owners would focus on the $100 million US in possible synergy
savings previously discussed.
"They'll probably want to take a bit
more time to evaluate the facilities and really work on their strategic plan
before they announce anything," he said. But, he added, he expects the new
owner to continue running Stelco's two Ontario plants "to get the highest
level of productivity they can."
"There's two main things that they like
about Stelco -- obviously the Lake Erie plant is a very fine operation -- but
they're also looking within U.S. Steel (because) they need additional
steelmaking, and the additional steel-making is available out of
Hamilton."
Stelco had sought potential bidders since
emerging from bankruptcy restructuring nearly two years ago, cutting costs,
reducing debt and improving its efficiency to make itself more attractive to
potential bidders.
In its last earnings report as a
Canadian-owned company Wednesday, Stelco reported a net profit of $38 million
or $1.26 per share in the third quarter, reversing a loss of $25 million or 93
cents a share for the same period a year ago.
The gains were due in part to $5 million in
savings from job cuts and other streamlining and foreign-exchange increases of
$36 million.