Sims eyes US$ 475 million for expansion and debt repayment

Archiv – Australia | The world’s largest scrap metal recycler, Sims Metal Management, plans to sell US$ 475 million worth of shares to help fund acquisitions and repay debt. The bulk of the capital raised – US$ 400 million – will result from a fully-underwritten placement of stock at US$ 21 a share to institutional investors, the company has told the Australian Securities Exchange. Australia | The world’s largest scrap metal recycler, Sims Metal Management, plans to sell US$ 475 million worth of shares to help fund acquisitions and repay debt. The bulk of the capital raised – US$ 400 million – will result from a fully-underwritten placement of stock at US$ 21 a share to institutional investors, the company has told the Australian Securities Exchange.
Sims will also offer US$ 75 million of equity to existing shareholders through a share purchase plan. Initially, the money will go towards reducing borrowings, enabling acquisitions and funding capital spending. Since buying US firm Metal Management in March last year, Sims has spent US$ 185 million on acquisitions.
The announcement brought a halt to trading in Sims’ shares at US$ 22.20 to allow the capital-raising exercise to proceed.
’Through the capital raising, the company will be in an enviable position to strengthen its existing business and fund growth opportunities,’ says its Chief Executive Daniel Dienst. However, key shareholder Mitsui Company will not exercise an option to maintain its shareholding at its current level because of ’timing and internal capital allocation considerations’, according to a Sims statement.
’With an excellent management team, strong balance sheet and significant growth potential, this could be the catalyst needed to entice fresh money back into the stock, especially given recent sideways trade,’ Mr Dienst told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Sydney. ’The financial discipline and conservative business practices that we had in place heading into the global financial crisis allowed us to fare far better than most. We are well-positioned to participate in, and lead, the metal market recovery.’