The Brazilian upper court of justice, STJ, is about to conclude a dispute between the steel producers CSN and Ternium, in relation to the acquisition of a capital stake of the steel producer Usiminas by Ternium in 2011.
When Ternium bought 27.7 percent of the Usiminas capital from shareholders Votorantim and Camargo Correa, CSN was also a shareholder of Usiminas.
Under Brazilian law, if the acquisition results in a change of control, the new controller has the obligation to offer the acquisition at the same price per share to the minority shareholders.
Ternium denies that the control of Usiminas was changed, but CSN insists that it was, claiming that it has an estimated $1.0 billion to receive from Ternium, a request that was already rejected when appealed to lower courts.
In the STJ process, two ministers have already voted in favor of CSN and two others in favor of Ternium. Next week, the fifth minister will unveil its vote, defining the winner of the dispute.