Wheeling-Pittsburgh In Merger Talks With CSN

US steel-maker Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation is reported to be in merger talks with Brazil’s Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN). The agreement under negotiation would result in the combination of CSN’s North American assets with those of Wheeling-Pittsburgh to create a new company. Under the terms of the arrangement, CSN would contribute its steel-processing facility in Indiana and make a cash investment of $225 million through financing that would be convertible into about 11.8 million shares of the new Wheeling-Pittsburgh within a three-year period. CSN will receive a 49.5% stake in a new holding company, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation, which intends to seek a listing on NASDAQ.