Gerdau Buys Cleary Stake

Brazil steelmaker Gerdau says it has acquired a 49.1% stake in Colombia-based metallurgical coke producer Cleary Holdings for $57m in cash, increasing its interest in the company to 100%. A company spokeswoman says Gerdau had already acquired a 50.9% stake in February 2008 for $59m. Cleary has the capacity to produce 1m tons of metallurgical coke annually. It also has estimated coking coal reserves of 20m tons. Gerdau says the acquisition is part of its strategy to guarantee the supply of coking coal for steel production. There were no financial advisors on the deal, the company says.