Rubicon Partners is pleased to announce the sale of Scottish metal recycling business John Lawrie Metals Ltd to Arcelor Mittal as part of the company’s strategy of increasing the use of scrap steel to lower CO2 emissions from steelmaking.
The deal was completed on 28 February 2022; the business will continue to be run by the current management.
Rubicon Partners acquired John Lawrie Group, consisting of the Metals and Tubulars divisions, from the Meldrum family in 2017. John Lawrie Metals, which is based in Aberdeen, with three other sites in northeast Scotland, is a leading consolidator of ferrous scrap metal. The business currently exports to steel producers mainly in western Europe. Under Rubicon’s ownership the business expanded its capability and reach, both organically and through acquisition, with a strategic focus on providing metal recycling services to the North Sea decommissioning market.
“We have identified strong potential for growth in the ferrous scrap processing business, with demand growth in Europe facilitated by the European Union’s initiatives to achieve higher metal recycling rates, reduce CO2 emissions and underpin the EU’s net-zero ambitions. We are therefore very pleased to announce the acquisition of John Lawrie Metals, which represents a further step in our strategy to increase the use of scrap steel across our steelmaking sites” said Geert Van Poelvoorde, CEO ArcelorMittal Europe.
John Lawrie Metals has unique access to diversified sources of high-quality scrap steel from the UK’s oil and gas industry. The company sources around half its material from the oil and gas market; with decommissioning of oil and gas wells in the North Sea increasing due to the energy transition, supplies of scrap are expected to grow significantly over the next decade.
Increasing the use of scrap steel in both the electric arc furnace (EAF) and blast furnace routes of steelmaking, is one of the five key levers of ArcelorMittal’s decarbonisation roadmap.