NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2005--GE Commercial Finance today announced it has structured and arranged $440 million in senior financing to support the construction of the world's newest state-of-the-art steel mill. The funding was provided to SeverCorr LLC, a newly-formed partnership between SteelCorr, owned by steel industry veteran John Correnti, and Severstal Group.
SeverCorr will manage the construction and ongoing operation of the new mill, to be located in Lowndes County, Miss. The new mill is designed to produce 1.5 million tons of high quality, flat-rolled steel produces for the southern United States steel market. SeverCorr expects to produce hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated steel products by the third quarter of 2007. Approximately 2,000 construction-related jobs will be created during the next 24 months and nearly 450 people will be employed when the production facilities are fully operational.
"The team at GE Commercial Finance played an important role making this a reality," said Correnti, who will serve as president and CEO of SeverCorr. "GE's industry knowledge and complex structuring capabilities differentiated their approach and provided SeverCorr a strong financial foundation upon which to build our new mill."
The SeverCorr management team will be led by Correnti and other experienced industry executives, recognized for their ability to engineer, construct and manage cutting edge steel operations. Severstal, a major global steel producer with operations in Russia, Europe and the United States, has a majority equity stake in the project.
"This is an exciting situation for GE Commercial Finance and SeverCorr," said Craig Reynolds, senior managing director with GE's industry financing group. "The passion and experience SteelCorr and Severstal brought to the table, combined with our financing expertise in the steel industry, allowed us to create a financial structure that met both the short- and long-term objectives of the new organization."
About GE Commercial Finance, Commercial & Industrial Finance
Commercial & Industrial Finance (CIF), a unit of GE Commercial Finance, is a premier global provider of structured financing solutions to the commercial and industrial marketplace. CIF provides innovative financing solutions for a broad array of customer needs including recapitalization, equipment leasing, and growth capital. With over $9 billion in served assets, Commercial & Industrial Finance has the expertise and funding capability to deliver exceptional financing solutions. GE Commercial Finance, which offers businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services, has assets of more than US$230 billion and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., USA.
GE is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ge.com
Contacts
Media:
GE Commercial Finance
Ned Reynolds, 203-229-5717
[email protected]
or
GE Commercial Finance, CIF
Jay Pierce, 203-229-1887
[email protected]
Jeff Wilson
GE Capital Corporate Finance
[email protected]
1-203-749-6340