Romanian manufacturer of welded mesh wire Intertranscom Impex SRL has acquired steel wire producer Dan Steel, based in Beclean, Intertransocm confirms to Kallanish.
The bankrupt plant was sold at a public auction for €7.5 million ($8.15m).
The new owner plans to restart production and to transform the plant into one of the main employers in Beclean, it tells Kallanish.
CITR Cluj Branch, together with Prime Insolv Practice, as judicial liquidators, organised the previous auction for Dan Steel last June with a starting price of €23m, down from €25m and €28m in the prior auctions respectively.
Dan Steel Group was active in the production of wire and wire products, with a production capacity exceeding 100,000 tonnes/year. The asset comprises over 40 hectares of land, buildings with a total usable area of 75,460 square meters and related equipment.
The mill produced a range of carbon and galvanized steel wire, as well as welded mesh, fencing and nails. The company imported feedstock from Ukraine, Italy, Poland, Belarus and Moldova, from suppliers such as ArcelorMittal, Metinvest, Belarussian Steel Works and Moldova Steel Works. Its main competitors were IS Campia Turzii, Ductil Steel Buzau, and Metalicplas. The main export markets in 2019 were Hungary and Slovakia.
In 2019, the firm suffered from weaker domestic demand compared to 2018 and had planned to increase exports to new markets after shipments abroad also declined on-year (see Kallanish passim). Production fell 26% on-year in 2022 to 31,994t.
In 2020, Dan Steel was directed into insolvency proceedings following a request from creditor Unicredit Leasing Corporation. Its bankruptcy procedure was initiated in March 2022.
The company has accumulated debt of over €35m, which has created additional pressure on its financial situation.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
