Chicago-based specialty steelmaker and forgings producer A. Finkl & Sons has reached a definitive agreement with Slater Steel Inc. to buy its Sorel Forge division. Located in Sorel-Tracy, PQ, Sorel Forge is an open-die operation and the only operating unit of Slater that’s currently slated to continue operations. Finkl, too, produces open-die forgings.
Slater declared bankruptcy last summer and has been unable to arrange a successful reorganization plan. It’s specialty and stainless bar operations have been closed or are preparing for that eventuality.
No terms of the sale have been released, but Slater stated it is “financially superior” to a sale it agreed to in January with Tricap Restructuring Fund. That agreement was not detailed either, but Slater acknowledges it will pay that investor group a C$1.2-million break-up fee as a result of the new sale agreement.
The current sale is seen closing in March.