Erasteel finds a buyer

Syntagma Capital has issued an exclusive put option to purchase high-speed steel producer Erasteel from French miner Eramet, Kallanish notes.

The sale of the company should be completed “in the months ahead”, Eramet says in its 2022 earnings report. In June last year, the miner signed a share purchase agreement with a consortium that includes Airbus, Safran and Tikehau Ace Capital to buy its lossmaking subsidiary Aubert & Duval (A&D). The divestment of A&D is expected to be completed at the end of March. Together with Erasteel, A&D is part of Eramet’s high-performance alloys division.

In February, Eramet said this divestment is in line with the company’s strategic roadmap, which aims to refocus on its upstream activities and develop in metals for the energy transition. The miner has been looking for a buyer for its troubled French subsidiary since last year (see Kallanish passim).

Last year, Erasteel’s turnover increased by 48% to €273 million ($289m). The sales growth of high-speed steels “was also supported by the positive impact of reinvoicing raw material and energy price increases to customers … EBITDA almost doubled, ending at €23m in 2022. The high level of Erasteel’s order book enables the entity to face the first half of 2023 with confidence, despite the macroeconomic uncertainties weighing on its main markets,” the report says.

Natalia Capra France