Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) has opposed the idea of an asset split at Brazilian flats producer Usiminas, according to a media report.
A competitor and a minor shareholder at the flats steelmaker, CSN said a company split would make Usiminas an “even weaker company,” according to CSN’s institutional director, Luiz Paulo Barreto.
The possibility of a split at Usiminas came up in H1 this year, but was just confirmed by a company’s major shareholder earlier in July.
The solution is expected to give a cease fire between major fighting shareholders Ternium and Nippon Steel, since each would assume a different asset. Usiminas has a mill in Cubatao city, in the state of Sao Paulo, and another one in Ipatinga city in Minas Gerais.
CSN also said that the ongoing legal fights involving Ternium and Nippon have been affecting Usiminas’ financial recovery.
“It’s a move to facilitate Usiminas’ split,” CSN’s lawyer, Walfrido Warde Jr, said.
As the crossfire continues at Usiminas at different levels, dealing with legal fights with CSN and its main shareholders at the same time, a Minas Gerais court allowed the flats producer to use BRL 180 million that was legally blocked.
The decision is said to help Usiminas comply with an agreement it has reached recently with creditors.