WEIRTON STEEL Employees await auction with relief

Union officials are hoping ISG is picked to take over Weirton Steel.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- The sale of their company will mean many things to the 3,000 employees of bankrupt Weirton Steel, but mainly, the auction today brings relief.
After laboring in bankruptcy for 11 months, the workers are eager to emerge under a new owner -- whether it be Ohio's International Steel Group or a committee of creditors trying to recoup their losses.
"People just want to see the process finished, see the sale completed and move forward," said Dave Gossett, a spokesman for the mill's Independent Steelworkers Union. "Hopefully, the employer will be ISG, but the bottom line here is we need to see this whole bankruptcy done."
ISG, which initially offered $255 million for Weirton, found itself challenged last week by the Informal Committee of Secured Noteholders, which offered $261 million.
Would be largest
If ISG can still make the deal, it would become the nation's largest integrated steelmaker, surpassing Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. But the noteholders contend ISG submitted a low-ball bid, seizing on a temporary raw materials crisis that is now abating.
Weirton officials have declined to say whether any other bidders were qualified to participate in the closed-door auction at a law office in Pittsburgh, where the company will choose what it believes is the best offer.
"The company has two goals -- to receive the best deal for the company's assets and to keep a steel operation in Weirton," spokesman Gregg Warren said.
The winning bid will go to the board of directors and, if approved, will be recommended to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wheeling. A final hearing is set for Wednesday.
Trying to recover losses
The noteholders are trying to recover some $118 million in losses on Weirton by hiring a transitional management team to run the mill for them. The group tapped former Nucor Corp. president John Correnti, who believes Weirton can thrive as an independent producer by trimming its work force and holding onto its niche in the tin market.
Correnti is trying to negotiate a contract with the union, which ISG has already done.
ISG was formed from the remnants of other bankrupt steel mills, including Cleveland's LTV Corp., Pennsylvania's Bethlehem Steel and Acme Metals Inc. of Riverdale, Ill.
In all, ISG has acquired plants in 10 states. If it wins the auction, the U.S. Department of Justice also would have to sign off on the deal.