ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Detailed Information Of Business Combinations [Abstract]

ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS

(a) The participation in Usiminas as of June 30, 2023

On January 16, 2012, the Company’s subsidiaries, Ternium Investments and Ternium Argentina (together with its wholly-owned subsidiary Prosid Investments S.A., or "Prosid", and the Company’s affiliate, Confab Industrial S.A., a subsidiary of Tenaris, or TenarisConfab), joined the existing control group of Usiminas, a leading steel company in the Brazilian flat steel market, through the acquisition of 84.7, 30.0, and 25.0 million ordinary shares, respectively, and formed the so-called Ternium/Tenaris (T/T) Group.

On October 30, 2014, Ternium Investments acquired 51.4 million additional ordinary shares of Usiminas. On April 20, 2016, Ternium Investments subscribed to 7.0 million preferred shares of Usiminas and Ternium Argentina, together with Prosid, subscribed to an aggregate 1.5 million preferred shares of Usiminas. On July 19, 2016, Usiminas’ extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting homologated a capital increase, and Ternium Investments acquired 62.6 million additional ordinary shares, and Ternium Argentina and Prosid acquired an aggregate 13.8 million additional ordinary shares. As a result of these transactions, Ternium, through its subsidiaries Ternium Investments, Ternium Argentina and Prosid, owned as of June 30, 2023, 242.6 million ordinary shares of Usiminas (representing 34.4% of Usiminas’ ordinary shares) and 8.5 million of Usiminas’ preferred shares (representing 1.6% of Usiminas’ preferred shares), representing, in the aggregate, 20.4% of Usiminas’ share capital.

As of June 30, 2023, the Usiminas control group held, in the aggregate, 483.6 million ordinary shares bound to the Usiminas shareholders’ agreement, representing approximately 68.6% of Usiminas’ voting capital. The Usiminas control group, which was bound by a long-term shareholders’ agreement that governs the rights and obligations of Usiminas’ control group members, was composed as of such date of three sub-groups: the T/T Group; the NSC Group, comprising Nippon Steel Corporation (“NSC”), Metal One Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation; and Usiminas’ pension fund Previdência Usiminas. The T/T Group held approximately 47.1% of the total shares held by the control group (39.5% corresponding to the Ternium entities and the other 7.6% corresponding to TenarisConfab); the NSC Group held approximately 45.9% of the total shares held by the control group; and Previdência Usiminas held the remaining 7%. The corporate governance rules reflected in the Usiminas shareholders agreement provided, among other things, that Usiminas’ executive board was composed of six members, including the chief executive officer and five vice-presidents, with Ternium and NSC nominating three members each. The right to nominate Usiminas’ chief executive officer alternated between Ternium and NSC at every 4-year interval, with the party that did not nominate the chief executive officer having the right to nominate the chairman of Usiminas’ board of directors for the same 4-year period. The Usiminas shareholders agreement also provided for an exit mechanism consisting of a buy-and-sell procedure—exercisable at any time after November 16, 2022, and applicable with respect to shares held by NSC and the T/T Group—, which would allow either Ternium or NSC to purchase all or a majority of the Usiminas shares held by the other shareholder.

(b) The acquisition of the additional participation

On March 30, 2023, Ternium S.A. announced that its subsidiaries Ternium Investments and Ternium Argentina, together with Confab, a subsidiary of its affiliate Tenaris S.A., all of which compose the T/T group within Usiminas control group, entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire from Nippon Steel Corporation, Mitsubishi and MetalOne (the “NSC group”), pro rata to their current participations in the T/T group, 68.7 million ordinary shares of Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S.A. – USIMINAS (“Usiminas”) at a price of BRL10 per ordinary share.

3. ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS (continued)

On July 3, 2023, the Company announced the completion of the acquisition of this additional participation. Pursuant to the transaction, Ternium paid $118.7 million in cash for 57.7 million ordinary shares, increasing its participation in the Usiminas control group to 51.5%.

The Usiminas control group holds the majority of Usiminas’ voting rights. Following the completion of the transaction, the T/T group holds an aggregate participation of 61.3% in the control group, with the NSC group and Previdência Usiminas (Usiminas employees’ pension fund) holding 31.7% and 7.1%, respectively. The Usiminas control group members also agreed a new governance structure, as a result of which the T/T group nominated a majority of the Usiminas board of directors, the CEO and four other members of Usiminas board of officers, and ordinary decisions are approved with a 55% majority of the control group shares.

Pursuant to the Usiminas shareholders agreement, as supplemented by the T/T Group shareholders’ agreement, Ternium started fully consolidating Usiminas balance sheet and results of operations in its consolidated financial statements beginning in July 2023.

As of July 3, 2023, Ternium remeasured its former participation (20.4%) at its fair value as of such date.

Consequently, Ternium valued its previously held interest by means of the market quotation of Usiminas share in the Brazilian stock market. Such value as of July 3, 2023, was of 7.36 BRL per share, amounting to a total of $385.9 million. This valuation results in the recognition of a loss of $441.4 million, which is included along with the gain related to the bargain purchase amounting to $270.4 million (see note 3 (d)) in the “Effect related to the increase of the participation in Usiminas” in the income statement for a total of $171.0 million.

In addition, IFRS 3, paragraph 42, establishes that the previous interest must be remeasured, and necessary adjustments made as if it were a disposal of the investment. In this case, items previously recognized in other comprehensive income, mainly the CTA (currency translation adjustment) should be recycled to results of the period. The accumulated loss in “Other comprehensive income” as of the acquisition date was $934.9 million.

3. ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS (continued)

(d) Fair value of net assets acquired

The fair values determined for the assets acquired and liabilities assumed arising from the acquisition are as follows:


Fair value of acquired assets and assumed liabilities:						in $ thousands

Property, plant and equipment (note 12)						904,780
Investments in non-consolidated companies						400,037
Inventories						1,707,311
Cash and cash equivalents						781,072
Other investments						247,005
Trade receivables						764,257
Allowance for doubtful accounts						(44,626)
Other receivables						854,917
Deferred tax assets						1,327,232
Borrowings						(1,224,399)
Provisions						(856,153)
Trade payables						(758,687)
Other assets and liabilities, net						(509,486)
Net assets acquired						3,593,260

Non-controlling interest						(2,818,358)
Remeasurement of previously held interest in Usiminas						(385,851)
Total Purchase consideration						(118,686)
Bargain purchase gain						270,365

Loss on the remeasurement of previously held interest in Usiminas						(441,410)
Net loss effect related to the increase of the participation in Usiminas						(171,045)

The purchase price allocation disclosed above was prepared with the assistance of a third-party expert. Management applied significant judgment in estimating the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, which involved the use of significant estimates and assumptions in particular with respect to the estimation of the loss probability for the contingencies, including revenue forecasts, EBITDA margins, capital expenditures and discount rate for the cash flow projections. According to the purchase price allocation, the transaction led to the recognition of a bargain purchase of $270.4 million.

Since the acquisition date and to December 31, 2023, revenues and net income from Usiminas amounted to $2,737 and $129 million, respectively. Had the acquisition occurred on January 1, 2023, pro-forma revenue and net income for the year ended December 31, 2023, would have been $5,517 million and $237 million, respectively. These amounts are unaudited and have been calculated considering the valuation of cost of sales under the FIFO method, the adjustments for changes in the accounting policies and the adjustments related to the fair value of assets and liabilities calculated for the purchase price allocation and its impact in results.

3. ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS (continued)

(e) Put and call option

In addition to the share purchase and the new governance structure, a “put” and “call” mechanism was established according to the following scheme:

–NSC group will have the right, at any time after the closing of the transaction, to withdraw its remaining shares from the control group and sell them in the open market after giving the T/T group the opportunity to buy them at the 40-trading day average price per share immediately prior to the NSC group’s notice of withdrawal, as well as the right, at any time after the second anniversary of the closing, to sell such shares to the T/T group at BRL 10 per share.

–At any time after the second anniversary of the closing of the transaction, the T/T group will have the right to buy the NSC group’s remaining interest in the Usiminas control group (153.1 million ordinary shares) at the higher of BRL10 per share and the 40-trading day average price per share immediately prior to the date of exercising the option.

–In the case of the T/T Group, Ternium will decide at its own discretion the execution of the call option, having Confab and Ternium Argentina the option to acquire the shares owned by NSC pro rata to their participation.

IAS 32 requires a liability to be recognized for written puts over non-controlling interests. The liability reflects the entity’s obligation to deliver cash or a financial asset. The financial liability is recognized at present value of the redemption amount and accreted through finance charges in the income statement over the contract period up to the final redemption amount. Ternium has recognized a liability associated with the put option of $242.5 million ($249.3 million as of December 31, 2023), accounted for in the statement of financial position under Other liabilities, with the corresponding debit in the statement of changes in equity under Non-controlling interest.

(f) Recognition of non-controlling interest

Ternium recognizes non-controlling interests in an acquired entity either at fair value or at the non-controlling interest’s proportionate share of the acquired entity’s net identifiable assets. This decision is made on an acquisition-by-acquisition basis. For the non-controlling interests in Usiminas, the Company elected to recognize the non-controlling interests at its proportionate share of the acquired net identifiable assets, which led to a non-controlling interest of $2,575.9 million.

3. ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS (continued)

(g) Main contingencies associated with the acquired business

Contrary to the recognition principles in IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets, IFRS 3 Business Combinations requires an acquirer of a business to recognize contingent liabilities assumed in a business acquisition at the acquisition date even if it is not probable that an outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation.



						in $ thousands

Provisions for contingencies recognized by Usiminas before business combination						(199,677)

Provisions for contingencies recognized as part of the business combination:
Tax related contingencies						(432,488)
Civil and other related contingencies						(174,333)
Labour related contingencies						(49,655)
Total Provision for contingencies						(856,153)

Contingencies estimated by Management were related to possible losses arising from administrative proceedings and litigation related to tax, civil and labour matters and based on the advice and assessment of internal and external legal advisors.

The main contingencies recognized in the consolidated financial statements pursuant to IFRS 3 Business Combinations in connection with the acquisition of the additional participation in Usiminas and the full consolidation of Usiminas include the following:


Description	Status	As of the acquisition date (in $ thousands)	As of December 31, 2023 (in $ thousands)
Labor lawsuits filed by employees, former employees and outsourced personnel of the Cubatão Plant, claiming severance pay and social security rights.	Pending judgment by the Labor Court and administrative bodies, at different levels.	57,343	55,643
Tax proceeding in which the tax authorities seek the reversal of ICMS/SP credits on materials considered as consumables (refractory items and others).	Awaiting final outcome of the Appeal to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).	29,772	30,440
Labor lawsuits filed by employees, former employees and outsourced personnel of the Ipatinga Plant, claiming severance pay and social security rights.	Pending judgment by the Labor Court and administrative bodies, at different levels.	15,112	13,722
Labor lawsuits filed by former employees challenging the amount of compensation paid on dismissals.	Pending judgment.	10,837	9,809


Other contingencies		86,613	99,880

Provisions for contingencies recognized by Usiminas before business combination		199,677	209,494

3. ACQUISITION OF BUSINESS – INCREASE OF THE PARTICIPATION IN USIMINAS CONTROL GROUP AND NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF USIMINAS (continued)


Description	Status	As of the acquisition date (in $ thousands)	As of December 31, 2023 (in $ thousands)
Objection filed against the decision that recognized only partially the credit rights established in a final and unappealable court decision that determined the exclusion of ICMS amounts from the calculation basis of PIS/COFINS-Imports.	Pending judgment at administrative level.	94,792	94,359
Tax collection proceedings related to the collection of ICMS/SP on goods shipped to other countries without effective proof of export.	Pending judgment by the trial court.	51,546	51,311
Tax proceedings seeking the reversal of ICMS/SP credits on materials considered as consumables (refractory items and others).	Several case records, declaratory actions and tax collection proceedings, suspended or pending decision by higher courts.	38,640	38,464
ICMS – Action for annulment of the tax debt claimed by the State of Rio Grande do Sul due to failure to make the advance payment of the tax at the entry of goods coming from other States (rate differential ).	Pending judgment by the trial court.	28,789	28,658
Tax assessment notice issued by the State of Minas Gerais concerning alleged reversal of ICMS credits on sale of electrical energy.	Pending judgment at administrative level.	12,386	12,330
Other tax contingencies		206,335	199,692

Provisions for tax contingencies recognized as part of the business combination		432,488	424,814

Public Civil Action seeking the reimbursement of the amounts increased by means of a term of amendment to the Contractor's Agreement, due to alleged overbilling in the construction of a bridge in Brasília/DF.	As of July 3, 2023, the claim was deemed groundless and was pending judgment of appeal. As of December 31, 2023, the action was dismissed as unfounded and the case was archived.	64,315	—
Public Civil Action seeking compensation for alleged damages caused to the State of Santa Catarina's Treasury related to improper expenditures incurred in the construction of a bridge.	Pending conclusion of the expert evidence	21,113	21,016
Other civil and other contingencies (1)		88,905	59,374
Provisions for civil and other contingencies recognized as part of the business combination		174,333	80,390

Labor lawsuits filed by employees, former employees and outsourced personnel of the Cubatão Plant, claiming severance pay and social security rights.	Pending judgment by the Labor Court and administrative bodies, at different levels.	27,123	24,814
Other labour contingencies (1)		22,532	20,499
Provisions for labour contingencies recognized as part of the business combination		49,655	45,313

(1) Composed of individually non-significative contingencies.