Iowa-based Sivyer Steel Corporation has been purchased by a group of local investors according to a recent press release.
The company produces medium to large steel castings for the mining, military, passenger rail and oil/gas industries. It was founded in 1909 in Milwaukee, Minnesota and moved to Bettendorf, Iowa in 1962. Due to a slow order book, it filed for bankruptcy in March 2018. The Voluntary Chapter 11 Petition for Reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa allowed Sivyer to continue operating and employing around 230 people.
Sivyer Steel is now owned by 14 individual small investors. Investor Joel Lorentzen, who operates Crestwood Capital Management Inc., said “intensifying market demand, reduction in competitors and a plant operating at 30-40 percent of its capacity right here in the Quad-Cities,” were the main reasons for the new ownership. Other investors include Michael Baxley, Sivyer’s new CEO and the Tinsman family. The plant has grown to over 240 employees since the acquisition and expansion and retooling plans are underway.