Steelmaker Nucor Buys Skyline For $605 Million

U.S. steelmaker Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) said Friday it will buy Skyline Steel LLC and its subsidiaries from Luxembourg's mining and steel company ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) for $605 million.

Parsippany, N.J.-based Skyline generated $873 million in revenue last year as a key distributor of foundation and piling products in the North America and Caribbean markets. It is a major consumer of H-piling and hot-rolled sheet piling from the Nucor-Yamato Steel Co., a joint venture between Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor and Yamato Kogyo Co. Ltd. (Tokyo: 5444).

As the largest supplier to Skyline Steel, Nucor was a natural buyer for this subsidiary business, Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal's chief financial officer, said in a statement following the announcement of the purchase.

The deal has yet to be cleared by regulators, but is expected to close this quarter. Nucor generated $20 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year.

Skyline provides steel piling for numerous applications, including marine construction, bridges and highways, storm protection, and environmental containment.

ArcelorMittal is the world's largest steelmaker, accounting for 6 percent of global production, but seven of its 25 European furnaces are currently idle because of the euro-zone crisis, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

On Friday, Nucor shares closed down 40 cents, or 1.15 percent, to $34.39.