Gerdau Colombia announced a joint venture with Putney Capital Management after selling 50% of its assets in its longs mill Gerdau Diaco, the company said Wednesday.
The joint venture transaction was valued at $165 million, Gerdau said in a statement.
"The completion of the transaction still depends on the parties' compliance with some previous contractual conditions," it said. "This move is aligned with the Company's asset optimization process, focusing on profitability and reducing its financial leverage."
According to the steelmaker, Putney Capital Management is already partner of Gerdau in its Dominican Republic steel operations.
Putney Capital Management is an asset management company with investments in the Caribbean and Central America that co-manages the INICIA energy and industry platforms.
In November, Gerdau sold its Colombian long steel unit Yumbo to local producer Siderurgica del Occidente (Sidoc). The unit was one of five Gerdau plants in Colombia.
Gerdau currently has four plants in Colombia -- two in Cundinamarca and two in Boyaca. They produce only long steel products with total installed production capacity of 674,000 mt/year.
