NLMK Terminates Agreement to Purchase John Maneely Company

Beachwood, OH – DBO Holdings, the corporate parent of John Maneely Company (JMC), today announced that Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), a Russian Steel producer, has terminated its agreement to buy DBO Holdings from The Carlyle Group.

On August 12 2008, DBO Holdings and NLMK entered into a merger agreement providing for the sale of DBO Holdings to NLMK for $3.53 billion. DBO Holdings filed a lawsuit on October 15th against NLMK in New York federal court as a result of NLMK’s failure to close the transaction in a timely manner, in breach of the express terms of the merger agreement between the parties. That suit is pending. DBO Holdings intends to aggressively pursue all legal remedies at its disposal to enforce its rights under the merger agreement, and fully expects to prevail in its pending lawsuit against NLMK.

Daniel A. Pryor, Carlyle Managing Director and Vice Chairman of JMC, said, “We are disappointed that NLMK has chosen to breach its obligations under the merger agreement. However, JMC is an exceptional company with superb employees and a proven management team. We see many opportunities to continue building and strengthening the business. It has been a privilege to work with the company over the past three years, and I look forward to continued involvement.”

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JMC is the largest independent tubular manufacturer in North America, with the most diverse product platform in the North American pipe and tube industry. Through its Wheatland and Atlas Tube divisions, it maintains a #1 market position in North America in each of its three core product categories: Hollow Structural Sections (HSS), standard pipe and electrical conduit. Formed through the combination of John Maneely Company and Atlas Tube in December 2006 and headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, JMC operates eleven plants in five U.S. states and one Canadian province and has a total production capacity of more than 3 million tons of steel pipe and tube per annum.

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