CLEVELAND International Steel Group to go public

The company intends to repay debt and perhaps buy other companies.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- International Steel Group Inc., a company forged from the ashes of two bankrupt steelmakers, is planning an initial public offering of stock, according to papers filed with regulators Thursday.
The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said ISG planned to sell up to $250 million worth of common stock. The filing did not specify the number of shares to be sold and officials would not comment on an expected price range for the shares or when they would be offered.
Under the plan, the nation's second-largest integrated steel maker would be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ISG.
About ISG
The company was formed in March 2002 after New York buyout firm WL Ross & amp; Co. bought Cleveland-based LTV Corp.'s integrated steel operations for $325 million in cash and debt. In April of this year, ISG bought the remaining assets of bankrupt Bethlehem Steel for $1.5 billion.
Cleveland-based ISG has plants in 10 states, including facilities in Cleveland and East Chicago, Ind. that make flat-rolled steel. The company also runs a finishing plant in Hennepin, Ill., and a coke plant in Warren, Ohio.
The prospectus filed Thursday says ISG will use proceeds from the IPO to repay debt. Any excess money would be used for general corporate purposes or to pursue acquisitions.
ISG is half-owned by WL Ross & amp; Co., and buyout specialist Wilbur Ross, Jr. is the steel maker's chairman. The rest is held by investors, including iron-ore supplier Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md., and Bill Bartholomay, a Chicago businessman who also is chairman of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.
Ross decided two decades ago to focus on old companies in trouble. Since then, the 65-year-old multimillionaire has restructured more than $200 billion worth of defaulted companies around the world.