Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 17, 2015

U.S. Steel looks to sell “surplus” Hamilton lands

A “for sale” sign is up over chunks of former Stelco land around Hamilton Harbour.

Since mid-December, U.S. Steel Canada has been quietly seeking offers for pieces of its sprawling 328-hectare property. It’s unclear how much of that land is on the block.

In court documents seeking to extend its current creditor protection order, the company said if any offers are accepted it will sell pieces of the property. Those land sales would proceed whether or not creditors agree to any other restructuring plans.

As part of an outline of efforts to get the struggling company back on its feet, chief restructuring officer Bill Aziz said in an affidavit the company has started an “organized” process to sell land in Hamilton, with a Jan. 22 deadline for filing expressions of interest.

“(P)rompted in part by inquiries from interested third parties, USSC in consultation with Rothschild (the company’s financial adviser) and the [court-appointed] Monitor, determined that it would be useful to start an organized process to solicit expressions of interest in connection with the possible acquisition of the land owned by USSC in Hamilton,” Aziz wrote.

Rothschild, he said, has been looking for potential buyers “who have an interest in, and track record of, redeveloping brownfield industrial properties.”

Any sale, he said, could be done in a way that would not “preclude the continued operation and/or sale of its coke ovens, iron and steel making assets and finishing lines located at Hamilton Works.”

Potential purchasers will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement before being given access to due diligence information.

U.S. Steel Canada, which purchased Stelco in 2007, owns prime industrial land in an area roughly bounded by the bay, Industrial Drive, and the northern ends of Ottawa Street and Sherman Avenue. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)