SGH Limited, a Sydney-based company with interests in multiple industries, proposed acquiring BlueScope at A$30 ($20.03) per share — a 23% premium to the most recent closing price — then selling its North American assets to Steel Dynamics Inc, according to a statement from BlueScope on Monday.
Steel has long been a sensitive issue in global trade, with the Trump administration imposing steep tariffs under the guise of national security to shield US producers. The takeover offer marks the latest move in a string of deals aimed at reshaping industrial supply chains as companies bolster production capacity amid rising geopolitical tensions.
BlueScope is Australia’s largest steelmaker and has a significant presence in North America, which accounted for about 45% of revenue in the company’s 2025 annual report.
The company’s board is considering the proposal, which is subject to numerous conditions in addition to regulatory approval, according to the statement. BlueScope disclosed that it has previously rebuffed multiple takeover approaches in late 2024, when a separate Steel Dynamics-led consortium made two bids at $27.50 and $29.00 a share, both of which were unanimously rejected.
In early 2025, Steel Dynamics, which is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, offered to acquire all of the Australian steelmaker, retain its North American operations, and distribute the other assets to BlueScope shareholders. That proposal valued the North America business at $24.00 per share and asserted the value of the remaining assets to be at least $9.00 per share, according to the statement.
“These approaches were rejected as they significantly undervalued BlueScope and its future prospects, and presented significant execution risk in relation to regulatory outcomes,” the company said.
Steelmakers have struggled in recent years to deal with a wave of cheap imports from China, where an anemic construction sector has weighed on prices. Still, the strategic importance of the sector to defense industries has revived interest from some investors, particularly in the US where steelmaking is now heavily protected by import tariffs.
(Updates throughout with details.)
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