Alter purchases United Milwaukee Scrap assets

Alter Trading Corp., headquartered in St. Louis, has closed on the purchase of certain assets of United Milwaukee Scrap LLC, headquartered in Milwaukee. The transaction includes the equipment and inventory of United and its related entities, but it does not include the purchase of the United companies themselves nor the United real property.

Alter says it has offered employment to substantially all the 100 employees across United’s six locations.

Five of the former United locations opened Monday, Dec. 9, as Alter Trading locations.

The transaction was conducted and completed in accordance with provisions of Chapter 128 of the Wisconsin Code, Alter says.

Wisconsin’s Chapter 128 is an alternative to Chapter 11 bankruptcy under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Cases filed under Chapter 128 generally take less time and expense to complete than those filed under Chapter 11 of the U.S. code, with Chapter 128 sales occurring on the motion of the receiver and by order of the court and routinely being completed within 90 to 120 days, according to law firms in the state.

“This purchase will continue to grow Alter’s customer base and service to the greater Milwaukee and eastern Wisconsin regions,” says Jay Robinovitz, Alter president and CEO.

He adds, “Being able to bring the talented former United employees onto our team will only help to expand our expertise that is focused on safety, quality and customer service. In addition, we are hopeful that many of these highly skilled workers will be able to fill positions at the new $15 million nonferrous recovery facility that we broke ground on at our existing Milwaukee location in November and anticipate opening in 2020. That facility will require 27 full-time employees and should provide a smooth transition for many of our new employees.”

Following this acquisition, Alter will employ approximately 1,600 people at 80 metal recycling facilities under the trade name Alter Metal Recycling in 10 states, as well as representative sales offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Prior to the United purchase, Alter already had a considerable presence in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee. The company operates an auto shredder at its Milwaukee yard at 1640 W. Bruce St. United also operated a shredder in the city. “It is a smaller specialty shredder, so we may do some testing to see if there are opportunities to utilize it before making any decisions,” Robinovitz says.   

Recycling Today profiled the company in March 2019.