Arcelor Mittal, JMC, USW say PTC Alliance auction a tarnished process

Dec 20, 2009 | 07:00 PM |

Just two years after emerging from bankruptcy, PTC Alliance Corp. is back in court again.

The fate of bankrupt steel pipe and tube manufacturer PTC Alliance Corp. remained in question as Perspectives was putting this issue to bed.

An acquisition of the Wexford, Pa.-based pipe and tube manufacturer might have seemed like a slam dunk for its "stalking horse" bidder, private equity firm and PTC's largest lender, Black Diamond Commercial Finance LLC. ("Black Diamond" also includes a host of related entities we won't bother you with here.)

But that was before the world's largest steelmaker, the United Steelworkers (USW) union and the John Maneely Co. (JMC) raised a host of objections to the deal, suggesting at best that Black Diamond and PTC Alliance were obstructing any potential deal and at worst that they might be deliberately colluding to prevent a sale to outside parties or trying to squeeze concessions from the union.

It was unclear late Friday whether those objections were delaying the deal or whether other issues might be gumming up the works

What is clear, however, is that potential bidders ArcelorMittal and JMC, itself backed by money from private equity powerhouse The Carlyle Group, feel that their efforts to acquire PTC Alliance were stifled by Black Diamond and an allegedly tarnished bankruptcy auction process.....