October 16, 2008

Harbinger sell its stake in Ryerson

Platts reported that private equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners has sold its entire stake in US metals service center group Ryerson.

A spokesman for Harbinger confirmed that the move followed a Ryerson shareholders meeting last week in which a slate of board candidates put forth by Harbinger was voted down. Harbinger's exit also marks the end of an acrimonious proxy fight initiated by the investment firm in the first week of January 2007.

Harbinger had criticized Ryerson's financial performance and rejected the proposed sale of the company to rival private investment group Platinum Equity for approximately USD 1.9 billion. That sale now looks highly likely to proceed following the shareholders meeting.

The Harbinger spokesman said he could not comment on the firm's future plans regarding investments in the service center industry.

Chicago based Ryerson is the largest North American steel distributor specializing in carbon, stainless and alloy steels in addition to nonferrous metals and plastics. The company has operations and JV in the US, Canada, Mexico and India.