CSN Sells Namisa Stake to Japanese Group

Brazilian steel company and aspiring iron ore exporter CSN has agreed to sell a 40% stake in Namisa, an iron ore mining complex, for $3.12bn, valuing the entire project at $7.8bn. The price tag, object of much speculation throughout the past six months, seems to initially suggest a favorable outcome for CSN. A senior executive at CSN tells LatinFinance he is very pleased with the valuation, but declines to provide details on the nature of the transaction. Halfway through the trading session on Friday the company’s ADR was up over 20% on the news. The process to sell Namisa began in earnest in May, when the company said it hired Goldman Sachs to advise it on the deal. CSN executives suggested at the time the asset could be worth up to $11bn; though some analysts said they didn’t think the asset was worth more than $6bn. Bankers eyeing the auction from a distance speculated the top bid would not be greater than $8.5bn. The winning consortium is made up of Itochu, Nippon Steel – which owns a 22% stake in Usiminas – JFE Steel, Korea’s Posco, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Kobe Steel and Nisshin Steel.