Press Releases   MSA in the News (Reprints)

MSA Buys Assets of Global Steel Exchange PITTSBURGH, PA - June 13, 2002, Management Science Associates, Inc. (MSA) has signed a letter of intent to purchase the assets of Chicago-based Global Steel Exchange (GSX), the Internet steel-trading marketer that was a pioneer in international e-commerce trading in the steel industry. GSX was founded in May of 2000 as a joint venture of four major global steel-trading companies, Duferco of Switzerland, Cargill Steel of the U.S., Samsung Corp. of Korea and Arcelor of Luxembourg. The announcement was made today by Dr. Alfred Kuehn, founder & chairman of MSA, and Lou Schorsch, president and CEO of GSX. "We are pleased that the superior technology and effort that went into GSX will continue to have a future by being acquired by MSA. We were impressed with MSA's long history of providing solutions and services that are consistent with what we were trying to accomplish with GSX and were further encouraged by MSA's commitment and knowledge of the e-commerce and the Metals and Material industry," Mr. Schorsch said. For MSA, it is the second major purchase of a steel industry e-commerce marketer in the past year. In October of 2001, Metals Supply Alliances, LLC (Metals), the MSA subsidiary, bought the assets of the former MetalSite and ScrapSite e-commerce websites and is currently operating both of these public marketplaces. In addition to running the public marketplaces, Metals has been using the intellectual property of MetalSite to develop Private Branded Marketplaces. These Private Branded Marketplaces allow companies to have an Internet presence that is restricted and secure for the use of their operating units and important customers. The GSX technology will also be used to develop Private Networks in addition to running the public marketplace. MSA has a long history of developing and hosting Internet client applications in a number of industries, so its resources and experience will be valuable in supporting the metals and materials industries. The GSX website was launched in June of 2001 and has since transacted some $350 million worth of business. The sophisticated website provides the ability to complete buying and selling steel and related raw materials primarily in the international spot market. Recently GSX has been developing Private Networks linked to the public marketplace, which is similar to what Metals has been doing with the MetalSite and ScrapSite technology. "GSX will add an international dimension and new clients to MSA MetalSite's existing business," Dr. Kuehn said, "and is an excellent fit with MSA and MSA PASS. It is the immediate goal of MSA to complement the technology of the two sites and to provide clients with the most sophisticated approach to developing private sites as well as ongoing improvements in the public marketplaces." MSA developed some of the leading edge technologies in e-commerce, e.g., data mining, online analytic processing, security and privacy practices to assure business continuity. MSA PASS has been developing real-time systems and solutions for the North American steel industry since 1982. MSA ScrapSite has just introduced a highly successful new online marketing system, 'Open-Bid Auction', which has been enthusiastically accepted by the scrap metal industry. "International steel trading represents a market of roughly a $100 billion per year," Patrick J. Gallagher, President of Metals said. "We believe the Web has a good future in procurement and selling of steel, scrap metals, and other industrial and commercial products. The international reach and the technology and customers of GSX will expand and enhance the capabilities of MetalSite & ScrapSite to meet the needs of our customers and will demonstrate our ability to provide low cost solutions and a neutral marketplace to the entire steel industry. MSA has done this in other industries." With more than 900 employees and an average annual growth rate of 17 percent, MSA is one of Pittsburgh's fastest growing high-tech companies. It has more than 300 clients, including some of the largest U.S. and foreign corporations and institutions, and also maintains offices in New York City, Boston, Chicago, High Point, NC; Toronto, Canada; Cardiff, Wales, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. MSA PASS is a Pittsburgh-based process automation specialist in turnkey computer and process control, facility-wide management systems for process and manufacturing industries, and systems design. The company is well known for its work in automating steel mills and scrap optimization. For 20 years it has supplied steel and scrap firms with material management systems, integrating standard reporting systems with advanced optimization techniques to lower purchase and receipt costs. MSA PASS also works in the chemical, pulp and paper and other process industries. MSA MetalSite is operated by Metals Supply Alliances, LLC, a subsidiary of Management Science Associates (MSA), headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. Along with its sister website, Assets.MetalSite.net, the MSA MetalSite and MSA ScrapSite websites are hosted by MSA and are neutral and secure global Web-based marketplaces/exchanges. All three sites utilize the proven technology of MetalSite, the most experienced public transactional Internet marketplace in metals e-commerce, and MSA's extensive confidential database management experience.