Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. has completed the sale of its Canadian specialty steel subsidiary, ASW Steel Inc., to Valbruna Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of Acciaierie Valbruna S.p.A., of Vicenza, Italy. The Carnegie-headquartered company also completed the sale of its Avonmore, Pennsylvania cast roll manufacturing facility, Akers National Roll, to an affiliate of WHEMCO Inc.
The sale of ASW is consistent with Ampco-Pittsburgh’s strategy to concentrate on assets critical to its success in the forged and cast engineered products segment. The company anticipates an immediate improvement to its bottom line.
With production facilities located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in Italy, and with worldwide distribution including a service center in Milton, Ontario, Canada, Valbruna produces stainless steels, nickel alloys, and titanium long products. It has an annual output of approximately 200,000 tons of specialty steels.
As for Akers National Roll, Ampco-Pittsburgh expect the divestiture to improve its results from continuing operations by approximately $9 to $10 million annually.
“As previously discussed, excess capacity and high operating costs in our cast roll system have made the operation of the Avonmore facility unsustainable,” Ampco-Pittsburgh CEO Brett McBrayer said, in a statement. “With the closing of this transaction, the divestiture of our Canadian specialty steel operations, as announced yesterday, and further improvement initiatives being implemented in our businesses, we expect a significant impact on our future financial results moving forward.”
