Worthington Steel Lowers Threshold in Klöckner Takeover Bid

The latest update is out from Worthington Steel, Inc. ( (WS) ).

On March 10, 2026, Worthington Steel’s German subsidiary amended its voluntary all-cash takeover offer for Germany’s Klöckner & Co SE by lowering the minimum acceptance threshold from 65% to 57.5% of outstanding shares, while keeping the €11.00 per-share price unchanged. The move, which extends the acceptance period to March 26, 2026, comes after Worthington Steel had already secured about 56.9% of Kloeckner’s share capital as of March 9, 2026, and is aimed at increasing the likelihood of successfully closing the transaction, which Kloeckner’s management and supervisory boards have endorsed as attractive and appropriate for shareholders.

Worthington Steel previously launched the takeover process in January 2026, offering a 98% premium to Kloeckner’s three-month undisturbed volume-weighted average share price as of December 5, 2025. By pursuing control of Kloeckner, one of the largest producer-independent steel and metal processors with a strong presence in North America and the DACH region, Worthington Steel is positioning itself to expand its service-center and higher value-added steel processing footprint, with potential strategic benefits for both companies’ customers and broader industry consolidation dynamics.

The most recent analyst rating on (WS) stock is a Buy with a $51.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Worthington Steel, Inc. stock, see the WS Stock Forecast page.

Spark’s Take on WS Stock

According to Spark, TipRanks’ AI Analyst, WS is a Outperform.

The score is driven primarily by strong underlying financial health (low leverage, solid ROE, and robust cash flow) and constructive fundamentals from the latest earnings call (share gains and improving profitability). Technicals remain supportive but look stretched on RSI, while valuation is reasonable rather than compelling and the Kloeckner deal adds leverage and integration risk.

To see Spark’s full report on WS stock, click here.

More about Worthington Steel, Inc.

Worthington Steel, Inc. is a North American metals processor specializing in carbon flat-roll steel processing, electrical steel laminations and tailor-welded solutions. The company provides value-added services such as galvanizing, pickling, configured blanking, specialty cold reduction, lightweighting and electrical lamination across 37 facilities in seven U.S. states and 10 countries, employing roughly 6,000 people.

Average Trading Volume: 281,930

Technical Sentiment Signal: Buy

Current Market Cap: $1.87B

For an in-depth examination of WS stock, go to TipRanks’ Overview page.