Birmingham Steel Seeks Meeting With United Group and Will Explore Possible Sale of Entire Company.BIRMINGHAM, Ala ALA aminolevulinic acid. Ala alanine. ala (a´lah) pl. a´lae [L.] a winglike process. .--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 1999-- Birmingham Steel Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BIR BIR British Institute of Radiology BIR Bureau of Internal Revenue BIR Bureau of International Recycling BIR Baculovirus IAP Repeat BIR Biomedical Imaging Resource BIR Bureau of Intelligence and Research (US State Department) ) today said it is taking steps to arrange meeting with the United Group and, separately, that it will be exploring a possible sale of the entire Company. Commenting on the United Group's response yesterday to the Birmingham Steel Board's November 22nd letter, which reiterated its continued willingness to meet with representatives of the United Group to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern, Birmingham Steel's Board said it is sending the following letter to the United Group: "We have reviewed the letter you sent to us yesterday. Despite its tone and content, we continue to believe it is in the best interests of Birmingham Steel shareholders to have a direct meeting between the United Group and us in an effort to resolve the contest in a way beneficial to our shareholders. We hope that the dialogue between us can move from rhetoric to realism. "With this in mind, we continue to be prepared to meet with a willingness to discuss all matters, and invite you to do so. We will contact your representative toward this end." Separately, Birmingham Steel said that, reflecting interest expressed by third parties in possible transactions involving the whole Company, and the long-standing commitment of its Board of Directors to build and realize value for all of the Company's shareholders, the Board today authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: management and the Company's financial advisors, Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston was originally the trading name of the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston, a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture formed in 1978 between the First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse. , to explore actively all potentially attractive strategic alternatives, including the sale of the Company, while also continuing to pursue the sale of its SBQ SBQ Sociedade Brasileira de Quimica (Portugese) SBQ Special Bar Quality operations. The Board believes that the strategic restructuring restructuring - The transformation from one representation form to another at the same relative abstraction level, while preserving the subject system's external behaviour (functionality and semantics). program that the Company is currently implementing will succeed. However, by also pursuing potential interest in a sale of the Company, the Board believes that the Company's shareholders will be given another opportunity to realize value in the near term. The Board emphasized that it remains concerned about the potential immediate and ongoing financial consequences associated with retention of the SBQ division even for a relatively short time and with a change in control of Birmingham Steel, including the potential that all of the Company's indebtedness could become due and payable. The Board of Directors has only one focus: to serve the best interests of shareholders. It is in this spirit that the Board continues to be willing to meet with the United Group and has authorized the Company's financial advisors to explore actively all potentially attractive strategic alternatives. Birmingham Steel operates in the mini-mill sector of the Steel industry and conducts operations at facilities located across the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . The common stock of Birmingham Steel is traded on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. under the symbol "BIR." |
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