On Tuesday, July 30, the Chicago office of Cleveland-based investment banking firm Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) announced that Niles Iron & Metal Company, Niles, Ohio was sold to Wisconsin-based Charter Manufacturing, the parent company of Charter Steel.
BGL’s Metals & Advanced Metals Manufacturing investment banking team served as the exclusive financial advisor to Niles Iron in the transaction. Coverage includes metals recycling, metal service centers, mills and foundries, and advanced metals manufacturing.
According to the press release, the partnership brings together two family-owned companies with a combined 200+ years of experience in the metals sector.
Founded in 1917, Niles Iron serves wide supplier bases and consumers throughout the Midwest and Northeast. The company has two locations in Niles, Ohio. One yard, situated on 52 acres, is devoted to the purchase, processing, storage, and transportation of all grades of recycled iron and steel. The second location focuses on nonferrous metals, particularly aluminum.
Charter Manufacturing is a family-owned group of differentiated metals manufacturing businesses founded in 1936. Headquartered in Mequon, Wisconsin, the company employs more than 2,300 employees in five business units: Charter Aarrowcast/Charter Dura-Bar, Charter Steel, Charter Wire, and Niles Iron & Metal.
The company operates a 500,000 tons per year electric arc furnace (EAF) mill about 60 miles west near Cleveland. On its website, Charter Manufacturing described how EAF steelmaking uses electrical currents to melt recycled metals.
“It’s more energy efficient while allowing for increased flexibility in the steelmaking process,” the company noted. “By using recycled steel as part of the EAF, we’re contributing to a circular economy—producing less landfill waste, using less energy, and generating fewer emissions from production, transportation, and shipping.”
According to the press release, the new partnership will allow both companies to continue their family legacy while benefiting from existing synergies between Niles Iron and Charter Manufacturing.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash.
