Next step to build a world leader in special steel

As part of the next step to integrate Ovako into the Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC), Ovako will be acquired by Sanyo Special Steel. NSSMC, who today is the largest shareholder of Sanyo Special Steel, will in conjunction with the acquisition increase its shares and make Sanyo Special Steel a subsidiary.

This will enable an even stronger cooperation between Ovako, NSSMC and Sanyo Special Steel with ambition to strengthen the special steel offering to the global market. The closing of the acquisition is expected to be completed by March 2019, pending on regulatory approval.

“This acquisition is a natural next step to integrate into NSSMC and will enable Ovako to strengthen its commercial offering and technical capabilities. We see many synergies between Ovako and Sanyo Special Steel and I am convinced that together, we will create further opportunities for our customers globally,” says Ovako President and CEO Marcus Hedblom.

Sanyo Special Steel is a leading long specialty steel company. They manufacture and sell special steel products in Japan and internationally. They provide various special steel bars and seamless tubes, including bearing, engineering, stainless, heat resistant and tool steel as well as metal powder and powder metallurgy products. They also offer formed & fabricated materials which are processed into nearly finished product forms from special steel bars or seamless tubes. Sanyo Special Steel has around 2,600 employees and a net sales of EUR 1,200 million in 2017. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

About Ovako
Ovako develops high-tech steel solutions for, and in cooperation with, its customers in the bearing, transport and manufacturing industries. Our steel makes our customers’ end products more resilient and extends their useful life, ultimately resulting in smarter, more energy-efficient and more environmentally-friendly products. Our production is based on recycled scrap and includes steel in the form of bar, tube, ring and pre-components. Ovako has over 3,000 employees in more than 30 countries. Ovako’s sales in 2017 amounted to EUR 921 million. Since June 2018, Ovako is part of the Japanese steel corporation Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation that employs 93,500 globally and has a revenue of EUR 43 billion. For more information, please visit us at www.ovako.com and www.nssmc.com.

About Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC)
Established in October 2012 by the merger of Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd., Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) is the world-leading integrated steel producer. NSSMC’s management team is led by Shoji Muneoka, Representative Director and Chairman, and Kosei Shindo, Representative Director and President. NSSMC makes a wide range of value-added steel products, in more than 15 countries as well as at 12 steelworks in Japan. It emphasizes three business fields as key strategic areas: i) high-grade steel products for automobiles, ii) resources and energy, and iii) civil engineering, construction, and railways. It conducts research and development at three major research centers, and seven laboratories at steelworks, all in Japan. NSSMC is a holding company for five businesses: steelmaking, engineering, chemicals, new materials, and system solutions. The NSSMC group employs approximately 93,500 persons. NSSMC posted ¥5,668,663 million in net sales and ¥182,382 million in operating profit with its crude steel production of 45.17 million tons on a consolidated basis in fiscal year 2017 (ended March 31, 2018). In line with its corporate philosophy, NSSMC is working at building up a dynamic NSSMC Group. The company seeks to ensure management efficiency, soundness, and transparency, and enhance its corporate governance with the ultimate aim of achieving sustainable improvement in corporate value and being trusted by society. For more information, please visit www.nssmc.com.

About Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd.
Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd. (Sanyo Special Steel) is a Japanese supplier of high-quality specialty steel, founded in 1933. The company’s management team is led by Shinya Higuchi, Representative Director and President. Sanyo Special Steel’s products fulfill a high level of confidence and applied to a broad range of important industrial parts in such areas as automobiles, industrial machinery, railways and wind turbine generator. Especially, Sanyo Special Steel’s bearing steel enjoys a particularly high reputation in many countries for its superior quality and confidence. Sanyo Special Steel has established business locations in Asia and America to ensure a stable supply of high quality products for customers as they expand business operations around the globe. Based on their management principle of “Confidence-based Management”, Sanyo Special Steel promotes faithful, fair, and transparent corporate management, and seeks to increase corporate value and acquire the confidence of all stakeholders by fulfilling economic and social missions.

For more information, please visit www.sanyo-steel.co.jp

The information was submitted for publication through the agency of the contact person set out above at 09:15 CET on August 2, 2018.