Big River Steel Completes Offering of $900 Million Senior Secured Notes due 2029 (Green Bonds)

OSCEOLA, Ark., Sept. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Big River Steel LLC ("Big River Steel" or the "Company") announced today that on September 18 it closed on and funded $900 million of senior secured notes due 2029 (the "Notes").  The Notes were priced at par with a coupon of 6.625%. The closing of the Notes follows the Company's closing on September 10 of its previously announced $265 million of tax-exempt industrial development revenue bonds issued through the Arkansas Development Finance Authority due 2049 (the "Bonds"). The proceeds from these transactions are being used for refinancing, expansion and paying transaction costs.

The Notes and Bonds are designated "Green Bonds" reflective of Big River Steel's expenditures on waste recycling and reduction that the Company believes contribute substantially to pollution prevention and control. The issuance of Green Bonds is consistent with Big River Steel's environmental sustainability focus as the world's only LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified steel producer and as a steel industry leader in terms of reducing carbon emissions. Big River Steel has a carbon emissions factor of 0.12 which is well below the global steel industry average in 2018 of 1.85. The carbon emissions factor is calculated as the number of metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted divided by metric tons of steel produced.

"These highly successful financing transactions, when combined with our $125 million increase to our working capital facility, completes a $1.29 billion month of financing activity that positions Big  River Steel for continued growth and environmental leadership," stated Ari Levy, Big River Steel's chief financial officer. 

Big River Steel operates a scrap metal recycling and steel production facility in northeast Arkansas, USA. The company, which began steel making operations less than four years ago, is in the process of doubling its flat-rolled steel production capacity to 3.3 million tons annually. The Company expects that its expansion will be completed later this year, ahead of schedule and under budget.

Completion of the expansion sets the stage for Big River Steel's next initiatives which will focus on supplying even more advanced steels to the automotive and appliance industries, including the electrical steels used in hybrid and electrical vehicles and the bespoke painted steels increasingly being used by appliance manufacturers. 

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the expansion project and financing plans, including the offering of the bonds and equity financing. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "will," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "target," or "continue" and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect actual outcomes, except as required by law.

SOURCE Big River Steel