WEIRTON STEEL Auction is over, but board must still review offers

One source called the creditors' offer 'significantly higher' than ISG's.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Workers at bankrupt Weirton Steel Corp. will have to wait another week for word on who will soon own their mill as a court-supervised auction is over but a winner still undeclared.
Weirton's board of directors postponed a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing that had been scheduled for today, telling the judge they needed more time to review two complex competing bids.
It was not immediately clear when the board would reconvene to vote on a recommendation to the court, but a hearing has been rescheduled for April 20 in Wheeling, W.Va.
Offers
Heading into the auction, Ohio's International Steel Group was offering $255 million for Weirton. A group of creditors seeking to recover its losses, the Informal Committee of Senior Secured Noteholders, had countered with $261 million.
Afterward, attorneys for the bidders, Weirton officials and the Independent Steelworkers Union refused to divulge the final offers.
However, "It looks like the process is coming to a conclusion," said ISU President Mark Glyptis, who sits on Weirton's board.
Earlier in the day, a source who attended the auction said the creditors' offer was "significantly higher" than ISG's bid.
"It's very tough. It's as tough a decision as this board has ever had to make," the source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Who union favors
Weirton and ISU officials have repeatedly said the best offer for Weirton Steel is not necessarily the highest offer.
The union has already negotiated a five-year labor contract with ISG, and Glyptis said he still believes the company needs to partner with a larger company to survive.
"The ISU membership is clearly in favor of ISG," Glyptis said. "They provide the long-term viability for Weirton Steel."
The creditors, the only group to challenge ISG, envision Weirton remaining a stand-alone company.
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 has eased since February.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, is continuing its review of antitrust issues raised by ISG's bid.
Because Weirton Steel is the nation's No. 2 producer of tin, the creditors and some tin users contend an ISG buyout could drive prices higher for such consumer goods as hair spray, canned soup and cat food.
Only U.S. Steel makes more tin than Weirton. If ISG wins the auction and court approval, the two companies would control nearly 80 percent of the U.S. tin market.