The story
The company was founded as a small metal-trading business in 1992. On 2 June 2005 Evraz Group floated some 8.3 percent of its shares in the form of GDR in London. The company was priced at $14.50 per GDR implying an equity value of $5.15 billion. An additional 6% stake was placed in January 2006, resulting in a total free-float of 14.3%.
The company acquired Claymont Steel from H.I.G. Capital in 2008 for US$564.8 million. The mill was closed in December 2013.
In 1998, Otari Arshba, who was a KGB officer and, later, was an FSB officer, became the director of public relations, and then he successively held the positions of vice president and senior vice president. Until March 2004, he was the chairman of the board of directors of the holding company according to a Gordonua.com article.
As of 2021, the Canadian unit of Evraz employed 2,000 people and generated $2.4 billion in revenues. The North American unit had annual crude steelmaking capacity of 2.3 million tons, and a capacity of 3.5 million tons of finished steel for heavy industry. Evraz operates two electric arc furnaces, in Pueblo, CO, and in Regina, SK.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the British government accused the company of "providing financial services or making available funds, economic resources, goods or technology that could contribute to destabilising Ukraine."
In March 2022 after sanctions were applied to Abramovich, owner of 29% of the company, the Financial Conduct Authority suspended the trading of Evraz shares on the LSE. The non-executive members of the board subsequently resigned.
On 10 August 2022, Reuters reported that Evraz was seeking to sell its North American units. At the time, the Regina mill was reported to employ 1,200 people.
In September 2022 U.S. Steel and Nucor were reported to be interested in the North American assets. New York-based boutique advisory firm Three Keys Capital was named as the agent for the sale. As a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Evraz was sanctioned and its shares delisted from the LSE.
From Wikipedia’s article on Evraz, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5