IPSCO Inc. Announces Withdrawal of Proposed Common Share Offering

23 June 1998

IPSCO Inc. Announces Withdrawal of Proposed Common Share Offering

    REGINA, Saskatchewan--June 22, 1998-- IPSCO(TSE:IPS.) (Alberta Stock Exchange:IPS.) IPSCO Inc. announced today that it had withdrawn its proposed 5,000,000 common share offering in the United States and Canada. "Current financial market conditions which had resulted in substantial price deterioration in steel stocks generally over the past few weeks would have dictated selling the shares at prices which would have not reflected what we perceive as being their true value and hence would have been unfair to existing shareholders," said Roger Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer.
    IPSCO said that it had sought the equity to be raised through the sale of the 5,000,000 shares to finance a portion of its long-term capital expansion plans. Currently just under 70 percent of IPSCO's assets are in the United States and IPSCO believes that its projected cashflow, debt-carrying capacity, and current cash position are sufficient to finance its contemplated capital expansion for the next two years, of which the majority is to be spent in the United States, and no slowdown in the company's plans is foreseen. These plans include the start of the construction of a new steel mill in the southern United States, which was approved in principle by IPSCO's board of directors recently. Site selection and project engineering activities for this mill, which would have an annual capacity of 1,250,000 tons of discrete plate, coiled plate and near plate, are on schedule with a final decision expected in the fourth quarter.
    "When market conditions stabilize we will review our long-term financing plan in the light of conditions then prevailing and determine what mix of equity and debt will then be appropriate," said Ed Tiefenbach, Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer.
    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.
    This news release contains forward looking information with respect to IPSCO's operations and beliefs. Actual results may differ from these forward looking statements due to numerous factors, including those discussed in IPSCO's 1997 Annual Report for its fiscal year ended December 31, 1997.