LTV sells tube division, atempts to keep Copperweld

CLEVELAND - Bankrupt LTV Corporation is parting with the remanants of its steel assets, selling one division and turning another into a standalone company. <br> <br> LTV announced Wednesday that Copperweld Steel would become a freestanding company that can emerge from bankruptcy protection. LTV earlier had planned to sell the unit. <br> <br> LTV Steel Tubular still will be sold. The two divisions make up LTV Copperweld and have remained profitable through the company&#39;s bankruptcy. <br> <br> LTV, once the nation&#39;s third-largest steel company, filed for protection from creditors in December 2000. A year later, the company asked for permission to sell its assets. <br> <br> The biggest, most well known LTV Steel mills were sold in February to W.L. Ross and Company LLC and became International Steel Group Incorporated. <br> <br> LTV said Wednesday it has agreed to sell LTV Steel Tubular to St. Louis-based Maverick Tube Corporporation for $110 million in cash. The unit employs about 430 people at plants in Youngstown and Elyria; Ferndale, Michigan; Counce, Tennessee; and Cedar Springs, Georgia. <br> <br> Maverick president and chief executive officer Gregg Eisenberg said the sale is contingent on getting a labor deal with the United Steelworkers of America. He said there is no reason to assume the company will reduce the work force, though some managerial jobs from the Youngstown headquarters may be moved to St. Louis.