Since its formation in 2003...

...the company has established and continually refined a pathfinder business model that has helped build Esmark into a multi-billion dollar company in just five years.

 

Esmark is a privately owned holding company created to house the investment and philanthropic activities of James P. Bouchard, Chairman of the Board, and his brother, Craig T. Bouchard, Vice Chairman. Esmark's roots are in the steel industry. Over the years the Bouchard's have diversified their interests into a number of activities in and around the industrial and commodity space.

 

Esmark (a former publicly traded company on NASDAQ: ESMK) has focused on several key industries including oil and gas exploration, aviation, real estate, technology, and sports management.

 

Today, Esmark's largest business is oil and gas exploration. The company has recently announced its re-entry into the steel industry where it grew from humble origins to become the 4th largest American steel producer before the sale of largest asset in 2008. Esmark's management team has over a century of experience in executive management, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, finance, purchasing, sales, and operations. This team has set out to create a company that will once again blend the best of its respective skills and backgrounds to grow and provide a significant return to its shareholders.

 

Esmark’s rapid rise to prominence began with the Bouchard’s first acquisitions in 2003: East Chicago, Indiana-based Electric Coating Technologies, Inc. and Chicago Heights, Illinois-based Sun Steel, providing the company with entrees into the steel service center and converter segments of the industry. Over the course of the next four years, Esmark acquired seven other service center, painted products, and steel distribution companies that quickly propelled the company into a leading provider of value-added steel products in the Midwest with more than $600 million in annual revenue by 2006. By that time, the company had a market base stretching from Missouri to Illinois to Ohio and more than 2,000 customers engaged in a diverse set of industries. Esmark had also built a number of strategic partnerships and joint ventures with leading steel companies from around the world to purchase, process, and distribute steel products in the U.S.sp;

Jim and Craig Bouchard successfully completed the first reverse hostile merger in the history of the United States with the combination of Wheeling Pitt and Esmark in 2007.

 

Mr. Bouchard demonstrated his commitment to shareholder value with the successful sale of Esmark to OAO Severstal in August of 2008. Esmark was founded in 2003 at 25 cents per share, an enterprise value of $2 million, and revenue of $4 million. The company was ultimately sold for $19.25 per share, an enterprise value of $1.3 billion, and 2008 revenue run rate of $3 billion.

The Chicago Cubs are exploring Naples, Florida as a potential Spring Training venue and have been working with Chicago-based Esmark and Naples-based 5th Avenue Advisors in that regard. Our site visits and discussions confirm Collier County has a number of suitable locations for a world class Spring Training facility...

 

For further information contact Bill Keegan, Esmark Communications Director at 312.927.8424 or billkeegan07@gmail.com