Big steel maker back in play as predators raise bid
Australia’s biggest steelmaker is back in the takeover game after predators increased their bid to buy the group.
SGH, controlled by the Stokes family, and its US bid partner Steel Dynamics tabled a “best and final” offer of $32.35 per share to BlueScope shareholders on Wednesday, valuing the company at around $15 billion.
This compares with the $30-per-share offer announced in January; This offer was rejected by the target on the grounds that the assets and potential were undervalued.
BlueScope soon announced it would return $438 million to shareholders.
Earlier in the week, CEO Tania Archibald told investors in a results briefing that the company planned to raise its shareholder distribution target to increase its return on free cash flow to 75 percent.
The owner of Port Kembla steelworks announced on Monday a net profit of $390.8 million in the first half of 2025/26, up 118 per cent on the same period the previous year.
SGH and Steel Dynamics said their revised offer offers an attractive premium for BlueScope shareholders.
“The increased purchase price represents SGH and SDI’s best and final offer in the absence of a superior competing offer for all or a significant portion of BSL,” it said in a statement.
The pair still plan to split BlueScope, with SGH keeping its Australian and other regional operations and selling its North American operations to Steel Dynamics.
In addition to the Port Kembla steelworks in southern NSW, BlueScope also has a North Star operation in the US state of Ohio, which uses scrap to produce hot-rolled steel at low cost.
Shares of BlueScope, which has not yet officially responded to the new offer, closed at $28 on Tuesday.
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