SAO PAULO (Standard&Poor's) April 6, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Gerdau S.A. (Gerdau, BB+/Stable/--) are not immediately affected by the acquisition of Sheffield Steel by its subsidiary Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. (BB-/Positive/--) in the U.S. The transaction adds 560,000 metric tons per year (mtpy) of rolled products capacity to Gerdau's existing 14.8 million mtpy rolling capacity and will cost the company approximately $76 million, coupled with the assumption of $94 million in net debt and other obligations currently owed by Sheffield, which should not have any material impact on the company's consolidated financial figures. As of Dec. 31, 2005, Gerdau reported EBITDA of $2.0 billion, funds from operations of $1.6 billion, total debt
