Gerdau completes Sidenor acquisition

Gerdau completes Sidenor acquisition

Brazilian steel giant Gerdau disclosed that it has finalized the acquisition of Spanish steel group Sidenor in a move that will give it partial control of local steelmaker Acos Villares and access to the European market. In mid-November 2005, Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau and Spanish bank Santander announced that they would each buy 40 percent of Sidenor, which produces steel used in the automotive industry. The cost of the deal was Euro 443.8 million. Bogey Inversiones, the executives of Sidenor, will hold the remaining 20 percent stake in the company. Gerdau is the largest producer of long steel in the Americas. The company has operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and the US, while the Sidenor move will give it a foothold in the European automobile industry.