Beshear releases records Bevin fought to withhold that identify early Braidy investors

Gov. Andy Beshear publicly released records Friday that identify stockholders who joined the state in investing early on in Braidy Industries — documents former Gov. Matt Bevin's administration fought in court to withhold.

“In releasing these documents, we are showing Kentuckians that we are committed to transparency and open government,” Beshear said in a Friday afternoon announcement.

Braidy Industries plans to build a $1.7 billion aluminum rolling mill in Eastern Kentucky. The state directly invested $15 million in Braidy in 2017 as part of a deal Bevin's administration spearheaded with the state legislature's approval.

The Courier Journal requested documents identifying Braidy's investors that same year, but the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development withheld relevant records, citing privacy concerns and exemptions in the state open records law.

Beshear, who was the attorney general at the time, determined the records should be disclosed, but the Economic Development Cabinet took the matter to court, naming The Courier Journal as the defendant in the case.

Over the past two years, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd and the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the investors' names were subject to public release.

Earlier: Kentucky plans to fight order to release records on Braidy investors

However, the Bevin administration continued to pursue the matter in court and did not release the records.

Beshear was inaugurated as Kentucky's new governor last month. Then, this week, he publicly released documents The Courier Journal sought, without redacting the names of the state's fellow stockholders.

Those documents, which date back to 2017, include a letter of intent concerning Kentucky's investment as well as a stock purchase agreement, voting agreement and investors' rights agreement signed by the state — through a limited liability company called Commonwealth Seed Capital — and other early investors in Braidy.

The stockholders listed in the newly released documents are:

Craig Bouchard, Braidy's founder and CEO

John Preston, a member of Braidy's board of directors and a past director of technology development (and licensing) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Michael Porter, another Braidy board member and economist who works at Harvard Business School

Christopher Schuh, a Braidy board member and MIT professor who co-founded Veloxint, a company Braidy acquired in 2018

Charles Price, another Braidy board member and the retired CEO of Louisville-based Charah Solutions

Carl Westin Limited, which The Courier Journal reported in December 2017 was an investment company owned by Carl Christian Westin Jansson

Braidy voluntarily named the aforementioned stockholders in a December 2017 news release. In that announcement, Bouchard said this "puts to rest the question" of who Braidy's shareholders are.

The list Braidy released at the time also included a couple of other shareholders whose names aren't mentioned in the documents Beshear released Friday.

Those were Norton Schwartz, a retired U.S. Air Force general and Braidy board member, and the Robert Stucker Trust. Robert Stucker is chairman emeritus of the Chicago-based law firm Vedder Price.

Previously: Braidy breaks silence to name investors in state-subsidized company

Two years after that December 2017 announcement, Braidy has secured other investors, most notably a Russian aluminum firm called United Co. Rusal that announced last year it would invest about $200 million in the planned mill.

Braidy is a privately held company, and Bouchard has previously said it maintains shareholder confidentiality as a formal policy.

Beshear's Friday news release included a statement from Bouchard supporting the new governor's decision to release the documents identifying Braidy's early investors.

“Braidy Industries believes in transparency as well as in the privacy of its shareholders,” Bouchard said. “The state asked for the release of these documents and we were happy to support this request.

"The Commonwealth Seed Fund is a valued shareholder," Bouchard continued. "Braidy strongly supports the governor, the bi-partisan leadership of the state of Kentucky, and all of its agencies."

Braidy has been working for well over a year to secure the financing necessary to build its massive aluminum mill.

That facility is planned to eventually employ around 600 full-time workers.

Braidy has previously estimated the project will require around $500 million in equity and over $1 billion in debt financing, according to past public statements by the company.

Instead of opening sometime this year as originally planned, the mill is slated to begin producing aluminum sheet for cars and other products in 2021. Last month, a Braidy spokesperson said the project is on track.

Related: Ashland college trains students to work at Braidy's future aluminum mill

Concerning the documents that were provided on Friday, Beshear's news release said the letter of intent "includes the formalization of the initial mutual understanding" between the state and Braidy concerning the government's $15 million investment.

The letter of intent, dated April 13, 2017, specified several proposed provisions for inclusion in an eventual agreement between the state and Braidy.

Those provisions included:

Braidy agreeing to put its planned mill in Kentucky and planning to create up to 500 full-time jobs within five years, paying an average hourly wage of $35.

Braidy making a capital investment of at least $1 billion in the mill project, "with construction to begin no later than December 31, 2017."

Permission for the state, through Commonwealth Seed Capital, to recoup its investment if Braidy doesn't invest at least $1 billion in the project by June 30, 2020.

Some of the requirements Braidy has been expected to meet have differed from the provisions mentioned in the April 2017 letter of intent.

For example, a previously released May 2017 document said the state could pull its money if Braidy hadn't begun construction by June 30, 2018.

The company broke ground on June 1, 2018, although actual construction on the mill hasn't started yet. A company spokesperson said last month that construction could begin as soon as the first quarter of 2020.

That same May 2017 document also said the state could recoup its investment if Braidy failed to invest at least $1 billion in the mill by June 30, 2020.

However, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year said the state could require the company to repurchase its investment if Braidy hasn't invested $1 billion by Dec. 31, 2020.

Related: As Ashland's historic steel plant shuts down, all eyes turn to Braidy

Contact Morgan Watkins at mwatkins@courierjournal.com and 502-582-4502 or follow her on Twitter @morganwatkins26. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.