OREANDA-NEWS. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it revised its outlook on Evraz Group S.A. and its core subsidiary Mastercroft Ltd., a steelmaker with most assets concentrated in
Russia to negative from stable following the announcement of Evraz's intention to acquire U.S.-based Oregon Steel Mills, Inc. (OSM, not rated) for a total cash consideration of $2.3 billion.

At the same time, the 'BB-' corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings, as well as the 'ruAA-' Russia national scale rating on Evraz and Mastercroft were affirmed.

"The outlook revision reflects our expectation that Evraz's financial profile will deteriorate as a result of this mostly debt-financed acquisition, and that Evraz's flexibility under the existing rating will be materially reduced," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Tatiana Kordyukova.