Sims Limited is selling its British business for $249 million

Australian steel processor Sims has announced the sale of its UK business UK Metal (UKM) to Unimetals Group for £195m (about $249m). This is reported by Capital Brief.

The asset consists of 28 facilities, including three port facilities and four shredders.

“We conducted a comprehensive strategic review of UKM, evaluating all options, including a sale, forming a joint venture, or restructuring the business. The board concluded that a sale provided the optimal outcome for Sims and its shareholders,» commented Sims CEO and Managing Director Stephen Mikkelsen.

Completion of the UKM deal is expected by the end of the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, and is subject to the fulfillment of customary process conditions, including obtaining regulatory approvals. Unimetals will take responsibility for employees currently working in the UKM business.

UKM’s sales accounted for approximately 14% of Sims Metal’s total sales in the 2023/2024 financial year ending June 2024. In the future, Sims will focus on high-potential markets such as North America, Australia and New Zealand, where the company’s business position and scrap demand are stronger, Mikkelsen said, as well as its 50% stake in the SA Recycling joint venture.

In addition to the UKM sale, Sims signed a letter of intent to sell its remaining stake in CLP Circular Services Holdings LLC for approximately $32 million.

Sims Limited is a leading global publicly traded metals processor. The company’s activities include the purchase, processing and sale of recycled ferrous and non-ferrous metals, it operates on 5 continents, we have a network of processing plants, many of which have access to deep sea ports, and an extensive network of receiving points.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the Italian producer of stainless steel Cogne Acciai Speciali, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Walsin Lihwa, agreed at the beginning of this year to acquire 65% of one of its main scrap suppliers – Com.Steel Inox.