Benteler Steel & Tube Manufacturing Corp. Abandons Merger with Tenaris, S.A. After Justice Department Investigation

Tenaris, S.A. (Tenaris) confirmed that Benteler Steel & Tube Manufacturing Corp. (Benteler) has walked away from Tenaris's planned $460 million take-over of Benteler's state-of-the-art steel and tube manufacturing facility in Shreveport, Louisiana. The abandonment comes after the Justice Department's Antitrust Division raised competition concerns about the deal.

The proposed transaction would have combined two domestic suppliers of seamless tubing and production casing, important types of steel pipe used in the extraction of oil and gas. The transaction would have increased concentration in an already concentrated industry, cementing Tenaris as the undisputed dominant player in the market.

"A competitive oil and gas industry is vital to the U.S. economy," said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. "The proposed acquisition would have eliminated Benteler as an independent competitor and threatened higher prices, lower quality, and less innovation in this market. I am grateful to the division's hardworking staff who thoroughly investigated the transaction on behalf of the public."

Tenaris, S.A. is a Luxembourg corporation listed on the New York, Italian, and Mexican stock exchanges operating a global network of steelmaking, including several Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) mills in the United States, primarily through its subsidiary Maverick Tube Corp.

Benteler Steel & Tube Manufacturing Corp. operates a state-of-the-art seamless steel pipe mill in Shreveport, Louisiana. Benteler is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Benteler International AG, a privately-owned company registered in Austria, which provides steel pipes and products and services used in automotive manufacturing.