WARREN CSC says parties are interested in buying whole mill

THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN
Court records indicate some prospective buyers want to be assured they won't be bound by a union contract.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WARREN -- CSC Ltd. officials and their attorneys have been tight-lipped about progress of a piecemeal sale of the shuttered steel mill, but court records suggest some investors may still be interested in operating all or part of the facility.
An auction to sell the idle mill equipment piece by piece is tentatively scheduled Oct. 30 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown, and attorneys for CSC are asking Judge William T. Bodoh to allow the sale of real estate as well as equipment at that time. A hearing on the request is set for 2 p.m. Monday.
"The debtor is currently negotiating with several parties for purchase of assets," the CSC motion says, adding that some buyers "want not only to buy personal property but also associated real estate and other operating assets."
Attorneys with the Cleveland firm of Baker & amp; Hostetler, which represents CSC, wrote that several parties have expressed an interest in purchasing all or a portion of the operations.
CSC officials have been trying to sell the mill as an operating concern since the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. Hopes for an in-place sale dimmed two weeks ago when Renaissance Partners, a regional management buyout firm, canceled its plan to buy and reopen the mill.
Union contract: CSC also is asking Judge Bodoh to make it clear that any sale of the mill property would be free of liens, including any obligation to honor the steelmaker's contract with the United Steelworkers of America. About 1,120 of CSC's 1,375 employees were represented by USWA Local 2243.
Some potential bidders have made proposals which include the condition that they be "free of liens, claims and encumbrances," CSC attorneys said, "including obligations under the USWA collective bargaining agreement."
Don Caiazza, a CSC executive and one of few employees still working at the mill, could not be reached to comment. Local 2243 president John Kubilis and CSC attorneys Matt Goldman and Jeffrey Baddeley also were unavailable.
vinarsky@vindy.com