International Steel Group has begun "due diligence" to determine the feasibility of buying Bethlehem Steel, under a 60-day exclusive agreement with the bankrupt steelmaker. The process should be finished in early January. If it results in a successful takeover, ISG would become the largest domestic steelmaker with nearly 20 million tpy of raw steel capacity, and particularly strong in the hot-rolled and coated-strip markets. ISG is the company formed when WL Ross & Co. bought the core assets of LTV Steel at a bankruptcy auction. Because they bought those operations in a liquidation effort, ISG's investors were able to avert nearly all of the legacy costs (debts, pension, and benefit obligations) that ruined LTV. Since the LTV acquisition, ISG has absorbed the former Acme Steel facility with a similar approach.
NSTL
