General Steel Announces Strategic Restructuring to Accelerate Business Transformation

BEIJING, Feb. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- General Steel Holdings, Inc. ("General Steel" or the "Company") (NYSE: GSI), a leading non-state-owned steel producer in China, announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a strategic restructuring plan designed to accelerate the Company's business transformation.

The transformation includes implementing additional cost-cutting programs at Longmen Joint Venture, selling the Company's stake in General Steel Special Steel Pipe Joint Venture Company Limited ("Pipe JV"), and reconfiguring the Company's steel manufacturing facilities and assets to facilitate expansion into logistics and Internet-of-Things businesses. 

Following an extensive review of its strategy and operational structure, the Company believes that it is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders to dispose low-efficiency, non-core assets and to restructure idle land resources for the purpose of unlocking their hidden fair value.

• During the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company sold its stake in the Pipe JV and realized a gain from the sale, which will be consolidated into the Company's annual report for 2014. As the Pipe JV had previously incurred significant operating losses, the sale will effectively lower the Company's future liability and share of operating losses related to Pipe JV.
• To better utilize its idle land resources in Maoming, Guangdong Province, the Company is in the process of building a new, modern logistics center to accelerate the development of its logistics and Internet-of-Things businesses. The construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2015.

Henry Yu, General Steel's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We look forward to turning a new chapter in our Company's history. Our industry and market place are rapidly changing, requiring us to strategically transform. We observe that the bulk commodity and technology sectors are converging at an accelerating pace, fueled by a revolution in the Internet-of-Things where sensors and digital tags are being embedded into the manufacturing process to capture greater and more detailed data in order to increase manufacturing efficiency and improve logistics and supply chain management." 

"We believe our Company is well positioned at the center of this convergence, and more importantly, we believe that we have the unique combination of necessary resources - including optimally-located land, logistical expertise, patented technologies, and vertical synergies - to capture the exciting new opportunities and succeed in our expanded business scope. In addition to our commitment to becoming a leaner and more nimble steel manufacturer, we are expanding into logistics and Internet-of-Things businesses. With this restructuring, we are well on our way in transforming General Steel from an integrated steel producer into a multi-faceted, synergistic platform that will comprise not only steel-related businesses but also high-growth, high-margin non-steel businesses," Mr. Yu concluded.

About General Steel

General Steel Holdings, Inc. is a leading non-state-owned steel maker headquartered in Beijing, China. With seven million metric tons of crude steel production capacity under management and operations in Tianjin municipality and China's Shaanxi and Guangdong provinces, the Company produces a variety of steel products including rebar, and high-speed wire.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs about future events and financial, political and social trends and assumptions it has made based on information currently available to it. The Company cannot assure that any expectations, forecasts or assumptions made by management in preparing these forward-looking statements will prove accurate, or that any projections will be realized. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of inaccurate assumptions or a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are set forth in the Company's filings under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere, including those disclosed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

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General Steel Holdings, Inc.
Joyce Sung
Tel: +1-347-534-1435
Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE General Steel Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gshi-steel.com