Evraz intends to sell North American division, seeking buyer

MOSCOW. Aug 11 (Interfax) - Evraz Plc is launching the process of soliciting proposals for the acquisition of its North American subsidiary - Evraz North America.

"The sale will allow to unlock the stand-alone value of the North America business," the steel and mining company said in a statement.

Evraz said the solicitation process is currently being conducted under the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) General License INT/2022/1710676 and the company is in contact with OFSI as part of this process.

The possible transaction will be subject to regulatory and corporate approvals and applicable sanctions laws, and will require approval from relevant sanctions authorities, including OFSI, Evraz said, adding that it does not intend to provide any additional information on this process unless or until the process is finalized.

Evraz has steel mills in Portland, Oregon (uses slabs from the group's Nizhny Tagil plant) and Pueblo, Colorado in the United States, and in Regina, Calgary and Red Deer in Canada. Evraz North America produced 1.88 million tonnes of steel products in 2021, including rolled products, rails, large-diameter pipes and OCTG.

The North American division increased revenue by a third to $2.3 billion in 2021, and posted EBITDA of $321 million, compared to negative $28 million the previous year.

Evraz is a major vertically integrated steel and mining company. Evraz's largest shareholder as of the end of 2021 was Roman Abramovich with 28.64%; company founders Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov controlled 19.32% and 9.65%, respectively. In March, Abramovich was hit first by UK and then by EU sanctions.