Nippon Steel to Buy Usiminas Stake in Ternium Pact, SBB Says

Nov 25, 2011 -- Nippon Steel Corp. (5401) will buy a 26 percent voting stake in Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA (USIM5) from Camargo Correa SA and Grupo Votorantim, and then sell half the shares to Ternium SA as the pair plan to work together in Asian and European markets, Steel Business Briefing reported.

Nippon Steel may formalize the acquisition of the stake on Nov. 30, SBB said, citing an unidentified person at Usiminas, as the Belo Horizonte, Brazil-based company is known. Nippon Steel wants to keep its position as the dominant shareholder of Usiminas and has worked together with Ternium in Latin America, SBB said.

An Usiminas official in Belo Horizonte said the company didn’t have an immediate comment on the report. Officials at Ternium in Buenos Aires weren’t immediately reachable before regular business hours today.