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Klöckner & Co acquires Hernandez Stainless and RSC Rostfrei Coilcenter

  • Transactions strengthen Klöckner & Co’s position as leading digital one-stop shop platform and pioneer in sustainability
  • Acquisitions enable strategic expansion of stainless steel service center activities
  • Expansion of customer base with some 400 new customers across Europe

Duisburg, Germany, July 13, 2022 – Klöckner & Co has acquired the two companies Hernandez

Stainless GmbH (“Hernandez”) and RSC Rostfrei Coilcenter GmbH (“RSC”). Both acquisitions have been made through Klöckner & Co’s German subsidiary, Becker Stahl-Service (“Becker”). The acquisitions mark Becker’s entry into stainless steel processing in a significant extension to its product and service portfolio. Hernandez provides surface machining and stocks stainless flat products. RSC is specialized in stainless steel coil cutting. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase prices for either company.

Guido Kerkhoff, CEO of Klöckner & Co SE: “Both of these acquisitions are of major strategic importance for us. Hernandez Stainless and RSC Rostfrei Coilcenter will strengthen our position as a leading digital one-stop shop platform for steel, stainless steel and aluminum, and as a pioneer in sustainability. Going forward, we will be able to provide our customers with an even more comprehensive and custom-fit product and service portfolio.”

Hernandez and RSC supply around 400 customers across Europe

Hernandez and RSC operate extensive machine facilities and, throughout Europe, supply around 400 distributors as well as stainless steel processors in various industries. RSC is also a major supplier to Hernandez. Together, the two companies have about 70 employees and generated sales of around €160 million in fiscal year 2021. Hernandez is headquartered in Hockenheim and RSC in Süßen (both in the German state of Baden-Württemberg).

Progress in strategy implementation

Under its corporate strategy, “Klöckner & Co 2025: Leveraging Strengths,” Klöckner & Co is driving forward a comprehensive expansion of its in-house product and service portfolio. The additions to the portfolio as a result of this latest transaction will enable customers in the future to purchase processed stainless steel through Becker. Becker has also already significantly expanded its service center activities in carbon steel and aluminum.

The two companies are expected to be included in the consolidated financial statements from the beginning of the third quarter of 2022. The transactions remain subject to approval by the competition authorities.

About Klöckner & Co:
Klöckner & Co is one of the largest producer-independent distributors of steel and metal products and one of the leading steel service companies worldwide. Based on its distribution and service network of around 140 locations in 13 countries, Klöckner & Co supplies more than 100,000 customers. Currently, the Group has around 7,200 employees. Klöckner & Co had sales of some €7.4 billion in fiscal year 2021. As a pioneer of the digital transformation in the steel industry, Klöckner & Co’s target is to digitalize and largely automate its supply and service chain and to become the leading digital one-stop-shop platform for steel, other materials, equipment and processing services in Europe and the Americas. At the same time, the Company aims to become the pioneer for sustainability – to the benefit of customers, the steel industry and society as a whole.

The shares of Klöckner & Co SE are admitted to trading on the regulated market segment (Regulierter Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with further post-admission obligations (Prime Standard). Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the SDAX® index of Deutsche Börse.

ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common Code: 025808576

About Becker Stahl-Service GmbH:
Becker Stahl-Service GmbH, a subsidiary of Klöckner & Co, is one of the largest service centers in Europe in the flat steel sector, supplying customers with wide band, slit strip, rectangular plates, blanks and trapezoid blanks of the highest quality. The company takes an active part in shaping the path to a sustainable steel industry. With a broad product and service portfolio and the use of state-of-the-art digital and automation systems, Becker has secured itself a reputation as a reliable partner in the metals industry. The company employs some 500 people and generated sales of around €700 million in fiscal year 2021.