The Pritzker Family, one of America's wealthiest families, has agreed to purchase TMS International Corporation with an approximate USD1 billion cash deal. The deal includes refinanced third-party debt, sources from TMS said. The price agreed upon corresponds to a 12% premium over the company's closing stock price last Friday.

The deal would allow TMS shareholders to receive USD17.50 in cash per TMS Class A and Class B common stock. Once the deal pushes through, it would also boost returns for TMS shareholders and help its global expansion as a privately held company.

TMS is a Pittsburgh-based company with 81 customer sites in 12 countries. Its main objective is to provide outsourced industrial services to steel mills. It has 36 brokerage offices from which it buys and sells raw materials.

The deal has been approved by the TMS board, but remained to be subject to antitrust approval and other closing conditions. Participants in the deal had expected it to close by the last quarter of this year.