IPSCO Inc. and Sweden’s SSAB Svenskt Stal AB announced that they have entered into an agreement providing for IPSCO to be acquired by SSAB for $7.7 billion. The transaction has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Illinois-based IPSCO has about 4,400 employees and an annual steelmaking capacity of more than 4 million tons. It owns four steel mills, 11 pipe mills, and scrap processing centers and finishing facilities in the United States and Canada. SSAB has a leading European position in quenched and tempered heavy plate and EHS/UHS steel sheet.