Cleveland-based Olympic Steel Inc. (Nasdaq: ZEUS) recently announced the sale of substantially all of the company’s Detroit assets and operations to Venture Steel Inc. for $58.4 million, subject to a future working capital adjustment that’s expected to increase the final sale price.

“We remain focused on our long-term strategy to further diversify our business, deliver consistent profitability and enhance shareholder value. The proceeds from the sale of the Detroit operations will be used to reduce debt, generating greater flexibility to pursue additional acquisitions and investments in organic growth initiatives and automation,” said Olympic Steel CEO Richard T. Marabito.

Marabito said the Detroit operations primarily focused on processing and distributing flat-rolled metal to domestic automotive manufacturers and their suppliers.

“We believe redeploying the capital from this business to higher value-added opportunities in all three of our business segments, including our growing automotive business in the southeastern United States, accelerates our drive to deliver consistently higher returns for our shareholders,” he said.

Founded in 1954, Olympic Steel is a U.S. metals service center focused on the direct sale of processed carbon, coated and stainless flat-rolled sheet, coil and plate steel, aluminum, tin plate, and metal-intensive branded products. The company’s CTI subsidiary is a distributor of steel tubing, bar, pipe, valves and fittings, and fabricator of parts and components. Olympic Steel operates from 34 facilities in North America.