Grupo Imsa acquires US$29mn steel painting plant in US

Mexican steel and construction materials conglomerate Grupo Imsa (NYSE: IMY) has acquired the Polymer Coil Coaters industrial steel painting plant in Alabama for US$29mn, the company announced. The plant supplies the construction industry in the southeastern US and was purchased from the Magnatrax corporation through Imsa's subsidiary Imsa Acero. It has an annual production capacity of 135,000t of pre-painted steel and will be incorporated into Imsa's US coated steel subsidiary, Steelscape. Imsa Acero's CEO Santiago Clariond said the acquisition would allow Steelscape to expand its geographic presence in the US, which is currently concentrated in the west of the country. "One of our objectives for Steelscape is to grow in an ordered and profitable way in order to give us nationwide coverage to become the US construction industry's most important pre-painted steel supplier," Clariond said. With the acquisition of Polymer Coil Coaters, Imsa Acero has increased its industrial pre-painted steel capacity to a total of 845,000t/y. Grupo Imsa operates in three core businesses; processed steel products, steel and plastic construction products and aluminum and other related products. The company has manufacturing and distribution facilities in Mexico, the US, Europe and throughout Central and South America.