Nucor Corp. buys electrical steel conduit business for $335 million

By Paul Ploumis

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): Charlotte-based Nucor Corp. has announced purchase of Republic Conduit from its European owner for a sum of $335 million. The deal further strengthens the company’s foray into the pipe and tube market. This is the fourth major acquisition by the company during the current year and the second one during this month.

John Ferriola, CEO welcomed Republic Conduit employees to Nucor team. According to him, Nucor, the purchase of Republic Conduit complements the company’s recent expansion in the pipe and tube market. It will also equip the company to offer a new line of value-added products to its customers, he noted. Nucor’s pipe and tube segment produces hollow steel for the construction market. The acquired conduit business, which also has considerable construction sales, will complement the segment throughput, Ferriola added. The acquisition is expected to augment the company's long-term strategy for profitable growth.

Republic Conduit offers the most durable, bendable, and easy-to-install electrical steel conduit to contractors and builders. The company, formerly owned by Tenaris SA, has two plants in Louisville, Ky., and Cedar Springs, Ga. These plants together employ nearly 300 non-unionized employees. The company produces 146,000 tons of electrical steel conduits on an average per annum. It is a major producer of durable, safe and cost-effective electrical raceway products. It has customers in the industrial and power sectors as well.

Earlier during the month, Nucor Corporation had announced its decision to acquire Birmingham, Alabama-based Southland Tube, an independent manufacturer of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing. The acquisition deal was worth $130 million and was aimed at further strengthening the company’s product portfolio and enhancing its downstream business.

In November, Nucor had closed in the acquisition of Independence Tube Corporation for approximately $435 million. The acquisition had resulted in addition of nearly 335 employees and four manufacturing facilities in Illinois and Alabama.

In July, Nucor had announced that it has reached an agreement with Joy Global Inc. to acquire its steel plate mill in Longview, Texas for a sum of nearly $29 million. The acquisition of the Texas mill was boasted as a valuable addition to the company’s plate product offerings. According to the company it complemented the capabilities of its two existing plate mills in North Carolina and Albama. Also, it had signed a 50:50 joint-venture deal with Japanese JFE Steel Corp to build a new steel plant in central Mexico.

Meantime, Nucor in its guidance for fourth quarter earnings stated that it expects the quarterly results to be in the range of $0.30 to $0.35 per diluted share, significantly less when compared to the third quarter of 2016 consolidated net earnings of $0.84 per diluted share. The Q4 earnings would be lesser when compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 adjusted net earnings of $0.45 per diluted share.

About Nucor Corporation

Nucor Corporation is the largest steel producer in the United States and is the largest "mini-mill" steelmaker. Nucor is North America's largest recycler of any material and recycled 16.9 million tons of scrap in 2015. The company manufactures steel and steel products. The Company also produces direct reduced iron (DRI) for use in the Company’s steel mills. It also processes ferrous and nonferrous metals and brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron (HBI) and DRI. Nucor operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products and raw materials.