Rautaruukki is planning to purchase Heléns Stĺl AB, a Swedish stockholding and service center company for steel and other metals. A basic understanding has been reached with the owner of the company, Heléns Rör AB. Heléns Rör AB is owned 75 per cent by the German company Benteler AG and 25 per cent by Rautaruukki. The parties expect to be able to sign a final agreement during February.

Heléns Stĺl specializes in the stockholding and prefabricating of various flat products such as hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel, stainless steel and aluminium. Last year the company had a turnover of about SEK 1.1 billion (EUR 125 million). The company's operations have grown rapidly with good profitability. It employs 70 people.

Heléns Stĺl AB has a new service center in the harbour of the city of Halmstad, on the western coast of Sweden, and a subsidiary, Heléns Stĺl AS for the Danish market.

After the planned acquisition of Heléns Stĺl, Rautaruukki's Steel Service Division with a turnover of EUR 750 million will become the largest company in the Nordic countries with stockholding and service center operations for steel and other metals. The turnover of Rautaruukki's Steel Service Division, without Heléns Stĺl, rose last year to more than EUR 600 million. The division's performance was good.

Following this transaction Rautaruukki will have its own stockholding and service center companies in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. This provides good potential for developing a pan-Nordic steel service concept and supports the group's strategic objective of moving closer to end customers in its value chain in the important Nordic markets.

By developing cooperation between its steel and other metal stockholding and service center companies operating in the Nordic countries, Rautaruukki believes that it will obtain major cost benefits, for example in logistics, stocks and purchasing operations. Rautaruukki plans to expand Heléns Stĺl's range of products and prefabricating operations.

Steel stockholding and service center operations are key growth area for Rautaruukki

"Steel and other metal stockholding and service center operations have been one of the strategic growth areas for Rautaruukki's operations in recent years. The company's objective is to continue to grow in the areas of upgrading and steel distribution and service center operations," says Lauri Mannerkoski, Senior Executive Vice President of Rautaruukki.

In addition to the Nordic countries, in the Baltic Sea region Rautaruukki's Steel Service Division has stockholding and service center companies in the Baltic countries and in Poland, Russia and Germany.

"Heléns Rör AB will continue to function as the main sales channel for Rautaruukki's tubular products in Sweden as before. The planned sale of Heléns Stĺl to Rautaruukki will not alter the ownership structure of Heléns Rör AB which is 75 per cent Benteler and 25 per cent Rautaruukki," adds Mr. Mannerkoski.

"Heléns has for several years operated in two business areas: tubular products and steel. Both business areas have developed very positively and each has a turnover of about SEK 1 billion. The arrangement is a logical step to ensure the continuous development of steel service center operations for which Rautaruukki is a more natural home. For Heléns Rör, the arrangement means that we can focus on the expansion of our core business which is the distribution and processing of tubes and steel sections. Here we will increase our activities in the Swedish market, but also in Norway, Denmark and the Baltic States," says Anders Ivarsson, Managing Director of Heléns Rör AB.

The proposed transaction concerning Heléns Stĺl requires the approval of the competition authorities.

Further information can be obtained from:

Rautaruukki
- Contact: Lauri Mannerkoski, Senior Executive Vice President
- Tel: +358 9 4177 6210,
- Email.

Rautaruukki Steel Service Division
- Contact: Matti Arteva, Senior Vice President
- Tel: +358 20 4747 300
- Email.

Heléns Rör AB
- Contact: Anders Ivarsson, Managing Director
- Tel: +46 35 14 90 95
- Email.