bought with a down payment of just $10 million. In 1994, Fluor Corp. of Los Angeles sold the Doe Run Company to Renco, with the latter paying $52 million in cash, and approximately $60 million in debt payable over an eight-year period. In 1997, Doe Run went on to pay $247 million for a similarly environmentally troubled lead smelting complex from the Peruvian government, as well as borrowing more money to service its Fluor Corporation debt. And in 1998, Doe Run sold $305 million in junk bonds for financing its Peruvian acquisition as well as more lead mines in Missouri (according to Doe Run filings with the SEC). Since 1998 most Renco financings have been bank debt. Transactions and subsidiaries WCI Steel In 1988, Renco bought a Warren (Ohio) steel company from its bankrupt parent, LTV Steel Co., for a price tag of $140 million. This company then became WCI Steel Inc., and Rennert was able to ultimately sell bonds totaling $300 million, paying $108 million of the proceeds as a dividend to Renco. In 1998, Renco Steel Holdings Inc. was created to serve as a holding company for WCI. The holding company then sold $120 million in junk bonds, this time paying an additional $100 million dividend to Renco. At the time of the bankruptcy, if the pension plan had been terminated, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation calculated a $117 million shortfall. Despite losing the company, Renco agreed to assume responsibility for the existing pension plan, with ongoing support from WCI. Newspaper reports speculated that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation had threatened to put a lien on Rennert's personal estate in order to ensure the steelworkers' benefits. Harbinger sold the business to Severstal, a steelmaker based in Russia. MagCorp/US Magnesium In 1989, Renco acquired the U.S.'s largest magnesium producer in Utah. Removing minerals from the water of the Great Salt Lake, Magnesium Corp. uses chemicals to refine the magnesium used in products ranging from bombs to bicycles. In 1996, Renco established Renco Metals, Inc. as a holding company for Magnesium Corp. and issued $150 million in bonds. Just like WCI, the company paid Renco $90 million in dividends by the year end. In 2001, the Department of Justice filed suit against Magnesium Corp. for multiple violations of hazardous waste law, and also it cited Rennert's removal of money from Magnesium Corp. through the bond issue, "leaving the companies insolvent