NORTHBROOK, Ill - Sunday, September 16th 2012 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Joint
venture partners Hilco SP LLC (“Hilco”) and Environmental Liability
Transfer Inc. (“ELT”), an affiliate of Commercial Development Company,
Inc. (CDC), today announced completion of their purchase of the former
RG Steel Mill at Sparrows Point, located in Baltimore County, Maryland.
The mill at Sparrows Point was idled shortly after RG Steel filed for
bankruptcy in May, 2012. Hilco and ELT successfully bid for the property
at a public auction, which began on August 7, 2012. On August 15, the
sale was approved in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Gary Epstein and Randall Jostes, spokespersons for the joint venture,
agree, “At this time, we are evaluating all of our options for the
property, which include seeking operators for the mill in its entirety
or some of the manufacturing facilities and operations within the 3400
acre site. We are also considering removal and resale of industrial
equipment and structural demolition followed by environmental
remediation of the site as a precursor to redevelopment.”
Prior to the joint venture’s acquisition, Sparrows Point was RG Steel’s
largest integrated steel production facility. Sparrows Point
demonstrated an annual capacity of 3.6 million tons of crude steel, 2.9
million tons of hot rolled, 1.3 million tons of cold rolled, 480
thousand tons of coated and 470 thousand tons of tin. It is the only
fully integrated mill on the East Coast of the United States of America
capable of producing flat rolled steel. Major components include the
second largest blast furnace in North America, a BOF and continuous
caster, hot mill, tin facility, and four galvanizing lines.
Additionally, the cold mill, which was originally commissioned in 2000,
is considered to be one of the most modern in all of North America.
Epstein and Jostes added, “The evaluation process is expected to take
several weeks given the size and scope of the entire operation at
Sparrows Point. Based on our early assessment, we believe the state of
the art cold rolled mill complex with tri-modal transportation
capabilities including rare access to a deep water port has great
potential for the right operator.”
Key features of the self-contained cold rolling complex include a
continuous pickle line coupled to a VAI continuous five-stand cold
rolling mill, tandem mill, and a hydrogen annealing system with an
annual capacity of 1,200,000 tons. Also, there are a VAI skin passing
temper mill/tension leveling line, two automated coil packaging lines,
warehouse facilities and a truck/railroad shipping and receiving system.
The building is a standalone unit with 880,000 square feet of floor
space and a 15-acre outdoor staging yard with two 40-ton gantry cranes
to load and unload rail cars.
Sparrows Point is located in a strategically important position on
Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of Baltimore Harbor. The facility includes
its own port with access to the Atlantic Ocean and the capability to
dock deep-water vessels. The mill also has its own short-line railroad
that connects to both the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads.
Baltimore County officials recently organized the Sparrows Point
Partnership, a work group to find ways to develop a sizable piece of
land on the Sparrows Point peninsula that is not part of the mill. They
believe it has great potential for activities relating to the Port of
Baltimore, itself, which will be compatible with the new super-sized
ships that will soon begin passing through a widened Panama Canal.
Epstein indicated that both Hilco and ELT are, “…committed to working
with local and state leaders and will keep communication open over the
coming months.”
The Sparrows Point Steel Mill was opened in 1889 and was the world's
largest steel mill, stretching for miles on the southeast edge of
Baltimore Harbor. It was first purchased by Bethlehem Steel in 1916 and
stood as the largest steel mill in the United States for many years.
Over decades, the facility supplied steel for the Golden Gate Bridge,
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and hundreds of ships for World War II.
Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001 and Sparrows
Point has had four owners since then. OAO Severstal paid $810 million
for Sparrows Point 2008. RG Steel bought the mill and other plants from
Severstal in 2011.
Within the joint venture, ELT purchased the 3,400 acre Sparrows point
site along with certain reusable buildings. They have also assumed
specified environmental liabilities associated with the land. Hilco
purchased the above grade improvements and machinery and equipment.
Detailed information about all of the assets available at Sparrows Point can be found at WWW.hilcoind.com.
About Hilco Trading, LLC: Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois (USA),
Hilco is a privately-held, diversified financial and operational
services firm whose principal competency is understanding and maximizing
the value of business assets, including retail, consumer and industrial
inventory; machinery and equipment; real estate; accounts receivable;
intellectual property; and, going-concern enterprises. Through 500
professionals operating on five continents, Hilco helps companies and
their professional advisors assess asset value, maximize value for said
assets through asset monetization solutions, and enhance value through
advisory and consulting solutions. Hilco serves retailers, wholesalers,
distributors and manufacturers, directly and through their lenders,
investors and advisors, which can include private equity firms, hedge
funds, investment banks, law firms, turnaround professionals, accounting
professionals, bankruptcy trustees and receivers. For more information
please visit our web site: www.hilcotrading.com.
About Environmental Liability Transfer, Inc.: ELT is a member of the
Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC) family of businesses. CDC is a
leading North American real estate development firm specializing in the
development, acquisition and redevelopment of major North American
commercial and industrial sites. Since 1990, CDC has acquired over
thirty eight million square feet of industrial facilities under roof. As
a byproduct of their pursuits, CDC and ELT have acquired, indemnified
and alleviated over one billion dollars of environmental liabilities.
Major clients such as Caterpillar, General Motors, Textron, Kraft
General Foods, Asarco, Uniroyal, Kaiser Aluminum, G. Heileman Breweries,
Fruit of the Loom, Chrysler, PMX, ABB, Sanvick Milford, Millennium
Chemicals and many more have effectively transferred and disposed of
environmental liabilities through CDC/ELT programs. For more information
please visit www.ELTransfer.com andwww.CDCCO.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50409489&lang=en
Contacts
The Hilco Organization
Gary C. Epstein
Chief Marketing Officer
gepstein@hilcotrading.com
(847) 418 2712
Environmental Liability Transfer, Inc.
Randall Jostes
President and CEO
rjostes@ELTransfer.com
314.775.0500 x106
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