Ryerson to go private for $1.06 billion

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steel services company Ryerson Inc. RYI.N, which put itself up for sale earlier this year under pressure from activist investors, agreed to be sold to Platinum Equity for slightly more than $1 billion.

Ryerson said the private equity firm would pay $34.50 per share, below the company's Monday closing stock price of $34.96.

Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, which announced in December that it owned Ryerson shares and was considering a variety of actions, said on Tuesday that it was unhappy with the terms.

"We are disappointed in the price and we are reviewing our options," Dan Gagnier, a spokesman for Harbinger, said.

Harbinger has been running a proxy battle to replace Ryerson's board of directors and sued the company last month to hold its annual meeting, saying it had delayed for too long.

The $34.50 per-share purchase price is a 15 percent premium to the $30.01 at which shares traded on February 13, the day before the company said it as considering strategic options, Ryerson said.

The company said the deal was worth $2 billion. The equity value of the deal is $1.06 billion based on the company's most recently reported shares outstanding.

Prior to that, shares had traded at $23.77, Ryerson said.

Ryerson shares fell 2 percent to $34.20 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

The sale comes at a time when the steel sector has been undergoing consolidation driven in part by growing demand for steel in China and India. Ryerson has the right to look for other offers through August 18, under the terms of the agreement.

UBS (UBSN.VX) advised Ryerson.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer)