Dofasco

Dofasco is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Dofasco is currently a standalone subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer.

Clifton and Frank Sherman founded Dominion Foundries and Steel in 1912, creating a giant that would bring prosperity and identity to the city of Hamilton, Ontario. Dofasco was incorporated as Dominion Steel Castings Company Limited in 1912, becoming Dominion Foundries and Steel Company in 1917. Its longtime nickname "Dofasco" was adopted as its legal name in 1980.

Dofasco owned and operated a number of subsidiaries, including National Steel Car, a Hamilton-based railway freight car manufacturer, from 1962 to 1994, and Algoma Steel, from 1988 to 1991, until union and financial difficulties ultimately forced Dofasco to divest the company. Dofasco was the operator of the major Adams and Sherman iron ore mines in Northeastern Ontario until 1990 when Dofasco announced that they would be closing the mines. During the recession of the early 1990s, Dofasco made its first permanent layoffs since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Dofasco has won awards for being the "most sustainable manufacturing company" in North America.

In January 2006, Luxembourg-based Arcelor, then the world's second largest steel producer by volume, outbid rival German steel producer, ThyssenKrupp AG, to purchase Dofasco. Analysts cited the strengths of Dofasco, including its non-unionized workforce, strong automotive customer base, its unique thin high-strength steel product, and ownership of a Canadian ore mine.

After Arcelor initially presented a hostile bid of $56 per share, ThyssenKrupp and Dofasco signaled their intentions to enter into a friendly merger. Under that plan, Dofasco would have retained its employee profit-sharing plan and placed in charge of all of ThyssenKrupp's North American operations. Arcelor raised its offer significantly, causing ThyssenKrupp to pull out as further bidding would have downgraded its credit rating. Dofasco paid ThyssenKrupp a breakup fee of $215 million. Dofasco's board recommended the latest Arcelor offer of $71 per share in cash, worth an estimated $5.5 billion. While the breakup fee was criticized by some as excessive, most analysts otherwise praised President and CEO Donald A. Pether and the board of directors for their successful handling of the bidding situation.

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