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Sahaviriya Raises Stake in Thai Cold Rolled Steel Sheet to Above 50%
09/26/2008 - Sahaviriya Steel Industries moves forward in the Thai high-end steel sheet sector by increasing its shareholding in Thai Cold Rolled Steel Sheet to 50.15% through acquisitions from partners JFE Steel and Marubeni.
Sahaviriya Steel Industries PLC (SSI) has completed its shares purchase in Thai Cold Rolled Steel Sheet PLC (TCRSS) from the two Japanese major shareholders, JFE Steel Corp. and Marubeni Corp., at a total share of 335,790,500 shares, representing a total investment of Bt. 3,453,256,973.22 million. SSI funded the purchase with loans from the local financial institutions.
As a result, SSI now owns 50.15% shares in TCRSS. JFE Steel Corp., with 22.4%, is the next largest shareholder, followed by Marubeni Corp. at 22.2%, while the remaining is owned by other minor shareholders.
“This investment will strengthen our production base and marketing position by stabilizing and increasing distribution channels for our high-grade hot-rolled steel sheet products,” said Win Viriyaprapaikit, SSI President. “In addition, SSI and TCRSS will be able to cooperate efficiently in the areas of raw material procurement, inventory management, and production, which will further reduce production costs and enhance competitiveness for both companies.”
Win said that with the purchase, SSI would increase its management participation in TCRSS while its two important partners—JFE Steel Corp. and Marubeni Corp.—would continue their support in the area of technology, finance, marketing and R&D. As a result of the partners’ continued support and cooperation, SSI’s and TCRSS’s current and future customers would enjoy high-standard product support and technical services consistently across the marketing platforms.
“This investment is an important step to pave the way for the Thai steel industry to become the leader in ASEAN and maintain competitiveness globally,” continued Win. “With investments in various assets surrounding its core hot strip mill asset—ranging from the cold strip mill, the electrogalvanizing line, the deep-sea port for loading steel raw materials and products, and the engineering & plant maintenance service business—SSI can efficiently integrate vertically its flat steel production configuration from mid-stream to down-stream. Thus its facilities at the Bang Saphan Steel Industrial Estate has now become the only integrated production base of high-grade steel sheets in ASEAN. This represents a strong commitment of SSI in pursuing its vision as a market leader of high-grade steel sheets in ASEAN and creating sustainable value to stakeholders in order to achieve growth and sustainability as well as to secure a place for the Thai steel industry in the world market.”
“Demand for high-grade steel sheets in ASEAN will continue to grow strongly over the next several years,” said Win. “Our products will play significant role in upgrading the standard of living for people in many areas such as energy, transportation, container and packaging, IT equipments, furniture and electrical appliances, etc. Steel consumption will increase along with the improvement of the people’s standard of living in ASEAN,” concluded Win.
Thai Cold Rolled Steel Sheet Public Co. Limited was established in November 1995, with strong support from its main shareholders e.g. SSI, JFE Steel Corp. and Marubeni Corp. Its main business is to manufacture and sell cold rolled steel sheets for various applications such as the automobile industry. TCRSS’s annual production capacity is 1.2 million tonnes at its plant in Prachuabkirikan, and its paid-up capital presently is Bt 10,703 million.
