Slater Steel Inc. released a statement on Friday to say that it has agreed to sell its Sorel Forge Inc. subsidiary to Tricap Restructuring Fund. The terms of the “definitive agreement” were not reported. The transaction would close around March 1, and the sale must be approved by the Ontario court overseeing Slater’s financial reoprganization.
Sorel Forge, in Sorel-Tracy, PQ, is Canada’s largest open-die forging operation. It produces mold, tool, and dies steels, custom forgings, and forges steel bars. Slater reports Sorel is among the few forgers in the world capable of producing large mold blocks up to 55,000 lb.
Slater has been in creditor protection since July 2003. While it planned early on in that process to downsize its specialty steel bar operations, in the past month it has concluded it has no reasonable prospects for a successful continuation of any of those businesses and they will be closed or sold.
Sorel Forge continues to operate.
Tricap is described by Slater as an investment group established by Brascan Asset Management “to provide a source of patient long-term capital and strategic assistance to companies experiencing financial or operational difficulty.” Slater says Tricap has capital assets in excess of C$415 million.