n September, Gerdau S.A. concluded its first issue of Guaranteed Perpetual Senior Securities on the international financial market, at the value of US$ 600 million. Demand totaled US$ 3.5 billion, almost 12 times greater than the Company’s initial offer of US$ 300 million.

Perpetual Securities are debt instruments without a maturity date that, in the case of Gerdau S.A., can be redeemed as of September 2010 or, after that date, at each quarterly interest payment. The interest rate is 8.875% per year, the lowest recorded in any issue of perpetual securities by a Brazilian company.

The purchasers of these papers were individuals and private banking managers in Asia (46%), Europe (32%), the United States (20%) and Brazil (2%). The operation was rated Ba1 (stable) by Moody’s Investor Service Inc., BB- (stable) by Standard & Poor’s, and BB- (stable) by Fitch Ratings.