OREANDA-NEWS. May 21, 2010. Severstal North America announced today that it has signed and completed the sale for its three remaining businesses operated under Northern Steel Group, Inc., to Esmark Inc.

The assets that were sold to Esmark are Independent Steel (Ohio), Sun Steel (Ill.) and Century Steel (Ill.). Other Northern Steel Group assets were sold previously to Aurora Resurgence.

 “With the sale of all Northern Steel Group assets, Severstal North America will now dedicate all of its attention and energy to our core strategy of developing competitive and efficient steelmaking assets in the United States,” said Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Executive Officer of Severstal North America.

Lazard Freres & Co. LLC and Raymond James acted as financial advisors to Severstal. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as Severstal’s legal advisor.

About Severstal North America:

Severstal North America is part of OAO Severstal international division (Severstal International) and is the fourth largest steelmaker in the United States and specializes in the full range of the highest quality light flat rolled products.  Fully integrated operations are located in Michigan, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia.  A new state-of-the-art electric arc furnace operation in Mississippi serves the growing demand for steel in the southeastern United States.  Severstal North America also has several joint ventures for the highest quality coated products.

About OAO Severstal:

OAO Severstal is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and mining companies with a listing on the Russian Trading System, Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange. The company operates high-quality assets in Russia, North America and Europe. In 2009, Severstal produced 16.7 million tonnes of steel with revenue of USD 13.05 billion and EBITDA of USD 844 million.

About Esmark Inc.

Esmark, Inc. is a privately owned holding company created to house the investment activities of James P. Bouchard, Chairman of the Board, and his brother, Craig T. Bouchard, Vice Chairman. Esmark's roots run deep in the steel industry, but over the years the Bouchard's have diversified their interests into a number of ventures in and around the industrial and commodity markets. Esmark has focused on several key industries including oil and gas exploration, aviation services, real estate, technology and sports management. Esmark Energy is focused on exploring and producing more domestic oil to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. And, Esmark Aviation has an exclusive contract with the famed Cleveland Clinic to provide contract medical flight services to the institution. More information about Esmark can be found at www.esmark.com