Exhibit 1.1

35,000,000 Shares

AK Steel Holding Corporation

Common Stock

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

September 10, 2014

M ERRILL L YNCH , P IERCE , F ENNER  & S MITH I NCORPORATED

C REDIT S UISSE S ECURITIES (USA) LLC,

J.P. M ORGAN S ECURITIES LLC,

As Representatives of the several Underwriters,

c/o Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

One Bryant Park

New York, N.Y. 10036,

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

Eleven Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10010-3629, and

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC,

383 Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10179

Dear Sirs:

1. Introductory . AK Steel Holding Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“ Company ”), agrees with the several Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto (“ Underwriters ”) to issue and sell to the several Underwriters 35,000,000 shares (“ Firm Securities ”) of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“ Securities ”), and also proposes to issue and sell to the Underwriters, at the option of the Underwriters, an aggregate of not more than 5,250,000 additional shares (“ Optional Securities ”) of its Securities as set forth below. The Firm Securities and the Optional Securities are herein collectively called the “ Offered Securities ”.

The proceeds of the Offered Securities will be used, together with the proceeds of the concurrent offering by AK Steel Corporation of senior notes (the “ Senior Notes Offering ”), to finance the Company’s acquisition (the “ Dearborn Acquisition ”) by AK Steel Corporation of Severstal Dearborn, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (together with its subsidiaries, “ Dearborn ”), pursuant to the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement, dated July 18, 2014, by and among Severstal Columbus Holdings, LLC, Dearborn and AK Steel Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “ Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ”), and the remainder of the net proceeds, if any, to repay outstanding borrowings under AK Steel Corporation’s asset-based revolving credit facility.

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2. Representations and Warranties of the Company . The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, the several Underwriters that:

(a) Filing and Effectiveness of Registration Statement; Certain Defined Terms . The Company has filed with the Commission a registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-194078), as amended by Post-Effective Amendment No. 1, each including a related prospectus or prospectuses, covering the registration of the Offered Securities under the Act, which has become effective. “ Registration Statement ” at any particular time means such registration statement in the form then filed with the Commission, including any amendment thereto, any document incorporated by reference therein and all 430B Information and all 430C Information with respect to such registration statement, that in any case has not been superseded or modified. “ Registration Statement ” without reference to a time means the Registration Statement as of the Effective Time. For purposes of this definition, 430B Information shall be considered to be included in the Registration Statement as of the time specified in Rule 430B.

For purposes of this Agreement:

“ 430B Information ” means information included in a prospectus then deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B(e) or retroactively deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B(f).

“ 430C Information ” means information included in a prospectus then deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430C.

“ Act ” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“ Applicable Time ” means 9:35 P.M. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement.

“ Closing Date ” has the meaning defined in Section 3 hereof.

“ Commission ” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“ Effective Time ” of the Registration Statement relating to the Offered Securities means the time of the first contract of sale for the Offered Securities.

“ Exchange Act ” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

“ FCPA ” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder.

“ Final Prospectus ” means the Statutory Prospectus that discloses the public offering price, other 430B Information and other final terms of the Offered Securities and otherwise satisfies Section 10(a) of the Act.

“ General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced by its being so specified in Schedule B to this Agreement.

“ Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, relating to the Offered Securities in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g).

“ Limited Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not a General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus.

“ Rules and Regulations ” means the rules and regulations of the Commission.

“ Securities Laws ” means, collectively, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“ Sarbanes-Oxley ”), the Act, the Exchange Act, the Rules and Regulations, the auditing principles, rules, standards and practices applicable to auditors of “issuers” (as defined in Sarbanes-Oxley) promulgated or approved by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and, as applicable, the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock Market (“ Exchange Rules ”).

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“ Statutory Prospectus ” with reference to any particular time means the prospectus relating to the Offered Securities that is included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to that time, including all 430B Information and all 430C Information with respect to the Registration Statement. For purposes of the foregoing definition, 430B Information shall be considered to be included in the Statutory Prospectus only as of the actual time that form of prospectus (including a prospectus supplement) is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) and not retroactively.

“ Subsidiary ” means each direct and indirect subsidiary of the Company.

Unless otherwise specified, a reference to a “rule” is to the indicated rule under the Act.

(b)  Compliance with Securities Act Requirements . (i) (A) At the time the Registration Statement initially became effective, (B) at the time of each amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether by post-effective amendment, incorporated report or form of prospectus), (C) at the Effective Time relating to the Offered Securities and (D) on the Closing Date, the Registration Statement conformed and will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Rules and Regulations and did not and will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading and (ii) (A) on its date, (B) at the time of filing the Final Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) and (C) on the Closing Date, the Final Prospectus will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Rules and Regulations, and will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any such document based upon written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information is that described as such in Section 8(b) hereof.

(c) Automatic Shelf Registration Statement . (i)  Well-Known Seasoned Issuer Status . (A) At the time of initial filing of the Registration Statement, (B) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment, incorporated report filed pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act or form of prospectus), and (C) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c)) made any offer relating to the Offered Securities in reliance on the exemption of Rule 163, the Company was a “well known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405, including not having been an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405.

(ii) Effectiveness of Automatic Shelf Registration Statement . The Registration Statement is an “automatic shelf registration statement,” as defined in Rule 405, that initially became effective within three years of the date of this Agreement.

(iii) Eligibility to Use Automatic Shelf Registration Form . The Company has not received from the Commission any notice pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) objecting to use of the automatic shelf registration statement form. If at any time when Offered Securities remain unsold by the Underwriters the Company receives from the Commission a notice pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) or otherwise ceases to be eligible to use the automatic shelf registration statement form and such Underwriters are required to deliver a prospectus for the Offered Securities, the Company will (i) promptly notify the Representatives, (ii) promptly file a new registration statement or post-effective amendment on the proper form relating to the Offered Securities, in a form satisfactory to the Representatives, (iii) use its reasonable best efforts to cause such registration statement or post-effective amendment to be declared effective as soon as practicable, and (iv) promptly notify the Representatives of such effectiveness. The Company will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of the Offered Securities to continue

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as contemplated in the registration statement that was the subject of the Rule 401(g)(2) notice or for which the Company has otherwise become ineligible. References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new registration statement or post-effective amendment, as the case may be.

(iv) Filing Fees . The Company has paid or shall pay the required Commission filing fees relating to the Offered Securities within the time required by Rule 456(b)(1) without regard to the proviso therein and otherwise in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r).

(d) General Disclosure Package . As of the Applicable Time, neither (i) the General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus(es) issued at or prior to the Applicable Time and the preliminary prospectus supplement, dated September 8, 2014 including the base prospectus, dated September 8, 2014 (which is the most recent Statutory Prospectus distributed to investors generally), and the other information, if any, stated in Schedule B to this Agreement to be included in the General Disclosure Package, all considered together (collectively, the “ General Disclosure Package ”), nor (ii) any individual Limited Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Statutory Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8(b) hereof.

(e) Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses . Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Offered Securities or until any earlier date that the Company notified or notifies the Representatives as described in the next sentence, did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information then contained in the Registration Statement. If at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information then contained in the Registration Statement or as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, if republished immediately following such event or development, would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, (i) the Company has promptly notified or will promptly notify the Representatives and (ii) the Company has promptly amended or will promptly amend or supplement such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission.

(f) Good Standing of the Company . The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the General Disclosure Package; and the Company is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation in good standing in all other jurisdictions in which its ownership or lease of property or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, the Subsidiaries and Dearborn and its subsidiaries, pro forma for the Dearborn Acquisition, taken as a whole (“ Material Adverse Effect ”).

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(g) Subsidiaries . Each Subsidiary, and to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, has been duly incorporated and is existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the General Disclosure Package; and each Subsidiary is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation in good standing in all other jurisdictions in which its ownership or lease of property or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of each Subsidiary has been duly authorized and validly issued and is fully paid and nonassessable; and except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, all of the capital stock of each Subsidiary is owned by the Company, directly or indirectly, free from liens, encumbrances and defects.

(h) Offered Securities . The Offered Securities and all other outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company have been duly authorized; the authorized equity capitalization of the Company is as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus; all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are, and, when the Offered Securities have been delivered and paid for pursuant to this Agreement on each Closing Date, such Offered Securities will have been, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, will conform in all material respects to the information in the General Disclosure Package and to the description of such Offered Securities contained in the Final Prospectus; the stockholders of the Company have no preemptive rights with respect to the Securities; and none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company have been issued in violation of any preemptive or similar rights of any security holder.

(i) No Finder’s Fee . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person that would give rise to a valid claim against the Company or any Underwriter for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or other like payment in connection with this offering.

(j) Registration Rights . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Act with respect to any securities of the Company owned or to be owned by such person or to require the Company to include such securities in the securities registered pursuant to a Registration Statement or in any securities being registered pursuant to any other registration statement filed by the Company under the Act (collectively, “ registration rights ”), and any person to whom the Company has granted registration rights has agreed not to exercise such rights until after the expiration of the 90-day period referred to in Section 5 hereof.

(k) Listing . The Offered Securities have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange, subject to notice of issuance.

(l) Absence of Further Requirements . No consent, approval, authorization, or order of, or filing or registration with, any person (including any governmental agency or body or any court) is required for the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement in connection with the offering, issuance and sale of the Offered Securities by the Company, except (i) such as have been obtained, or made and such as may be required under state securities laws and (ii) for such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, filings or registrations that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect or a material adverse effect on the ability of the Company to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby.

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(m) Title to Property . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have good and marketable title to all real properties and all other properties and assets owned by them, in each case free from liens, charges, encumbrances and defects except where the failure to have such title or the existence of such lien, charge, encumbrance or defect would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, and except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, hold any leased real or personal property under valid and enforceable leases with no terms or provisions that would materially interfere with the use made or to be made thereof by them.

(n) Absence of Defaults and Conflicts Resulting from Transaction . The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the issuance and sale of the Offered Securities will not result in a breach or violation of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a default or a Debt Repayment Triggering Event (as defined below) under, or result in the imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, pursuant to (i) the charter, by-laws or other organizational instrument or document of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, (ii) any statute, rule, regulation or order of any governmental agency or body or any court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, or any of their properties, or (iii) any agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is a party or by which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the properties of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries is subject, except, in the case of (iii) above, for such conflicts, breaches, violations, liens, charges or encumbrances that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; a “ Debt Repayment Triggering Event ” means any event or condition that gives, or with the giving of notice or lapse of time would give, the holder of any note, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn.

(o) Absence of Existing Defaults and Conflicts . Neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is in violation of its respective charter or by-laws or in default (or with the giving of notice or lapse of time would be in default) under any existing obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, loan agreement, mortgage, lease or other agreement or instrument to which any of them is a party or by which any of them is bound or to which any of the properties of any of them is subject, except such defaults that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(p) Authorization of Agreement . This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.

(q) Possession of Licenses and Permits . The Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn possess, and are in compliance with the terms of, all adequate certificates, authorizations, franchises, licenses and permits (“ Licenses ”) necessary or material to the conduct of the business now conducted or proposed in the General Disclosure Package to be conducted by them and have not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Licenses that, if determined adversely to the Company, any of the Subsidiaries or Dearborn, would individually or in the aggregate reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

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(r) Absence of Labor Dispute . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, no labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is threatened that would, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(s) Possession of Intellectual Property . The Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, own, possess or can acquire on reasonable terms, adequate trademarks, trade names and other rights to inventions, know-how, patents, copyrights, confidential information and other intellectual property (collectively, “ intellectual property rights ”) necessary to conduct the business now operated by them, or presently employed by them, and have not received any notice of infringement of or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any intellectual property rights that, if determined adversely to the Company, any of the Subsidiaries, or Dearborn, would, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(t) Environmental Laws . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, (a)(i) none of the Company, any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is in violation of, or has any liability under, any federal, state, local or non-U.S. statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, code, other requirement or rule of law (including common law), or decision or order of any domestic or foreign governmental agency, governmental body or court, relating to pollution, to the use, handling, transportation, treatment, storage, discharge, disposal or release of Hazardous Substances, to the protection or restoration of the environment or natural resources (including biota), to health and safety as such relates to exposure to Hazardous Substances, and to natural resource damages (collectively, “ Environmental Laws ”), (ii) none of the Company, any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, owns, occupies, operates or uses any real property contaminated with Hazardous Substances, (iii) none of the Company, any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is conducting or funding any investigation, remediation, remedial action or monitoring of actual or suspected Hazardous Substances in the environment, (iv) none of the Company, any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is liable or, to its knowledge, allegedly liable for any release or threatened release of Hazardous Substances, including at any off-site treatment, storage or disposal site, (v) none of the Company, any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is subject to any claim by any governmental agency or governmental body or person relating to Environmental Laws or Hazardous Substances, and (vi) the Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have received and are in compliance with all, and have no liability under any, permits, licenses, authorizations, identification numbers or other approvals required under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses, except in each case covered by clauses (i) – (vi) such as would not individually or in the aggregate reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (b) to the knowledge of the Company there are no facts or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to result in a violation of, liability under, or claim pursuant to, any Environmental Law that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and (c) to the knowledge of the Company there are no Environmental Laws or requirements proposed for adoption or implementation under any Environmental Law that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. For purposes of this subsection, “ Hazardous Substances ” means (A) petroleum and petroleum products, by-products or breakdown products, radioactive materials, asbestos-containing materials, polychlorinated biphenyls and mold, and (B) any other chemical, material or substance defined or regulated as toxic or hazardous or as a pollutant, contaminant or waste under Environmental Laws.

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(u) Accurate Disclosure . The statements in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus under the heading “Description of Capital Stock” and “Description of Certain Indebtedness” insofar as such statements summarize legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings discussed therein, are accurate and fair summaries of such legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings and present the information required to be shown.

(v) Accurate Tax Disclosure. To the extent that the statements set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences for Non-U.S. Holders” purport to describe certain provisions of the United States federal tax laws referred to therein, such summaries fairly describe, in all material respects, such provisions.

(w) Absence of Manipulation . The Company has not taken, directly or indirectly, any action that is designed to or that has constituted or that would reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Offered Securities.

(x) Statistical and Market-Related Data . Any third-party statistical and market-related data included or incorporated by reference in the General Disclosure Package or in the Final Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes to be reliable and accurate.

(y) Internal Controls and Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act . Except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the Subsidiaries and the Company’s Board of Directors (the “ Board ”) are in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and all applicable Exchange Rules in all material respects. The Company maintains a system of internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15-f of the Exchange Act) (collectively, “ Internal Controls ”) that comply with the Exchange Act and are sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. General Accepted Accounting Principles and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences and (v) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and is prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto. The Internal Controls are overseen by the Audit Committee (the “ Audit Committee ”) of the Board in accordance with Exchange Rules. The Company has not publicly disclosed or reported to the Audit Committee or the Board, and within the next 90 days the Company does not reasonably expect to publicly disclose or report to the Audit Committee or the Board, a significant deficiency, material weakness, change in Internal Controls or fraud involving management or other employees who have a significant role in Internal Controls (each, an “ Internal Control Event ”), any violation of, or failure to comply with, the Securities Laws, or any matter which, if determined adversely, would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(z) Disclosure Controls. Except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, AK Steel Corporation, the Company and the Subsidiaries maintain an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act) that is designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company and the Subsidiaries have carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of their disclosure controls and procedures as required by Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act.

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(aa) Litigation . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there are no pending actions, suits or proceedings (including any inquiries or investigations by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign) against or affecting the Company, any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, or any of their respective properties that, if determined adversely to the Company, any of the Subsidiaries, or Dearborn, would individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, or would materially and adversely affect the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement, or which are otherwise material in the context of the sale of the Offered Securities; and to the Company’s knowledge, no such actions, suits or proceedings (including any inquiries or investigations by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign) are threatened or contemplated.

(bb) Financial Statements . The financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus present fairly the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the dates shown and their results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown, and, except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis. The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

(cc) Dearborn Financial Statements . To the best knowledge of the Company, the financial statements of Dearborn and its subsidiaries, together with the related notes, included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus present fairly the financial position of Dearborn and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the dates shown and their results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown and, except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis. To the best knowledge of the Company, the financial statements of Mountain State Carbon, LLC (“MSC”), together with the related notes, included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus present fairly the financial position of MSC as of the dates shown and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown and, except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis.

(dd) Pro forma Financial Statements . The pro forma financial information and the related notes thereto included under the captions “Summary—Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Financial Information,” “Capitalization,” “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements,” and elsewhere in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, and, to the best knowledge of the Company, with respect to the pro forma financial information and the related notes thereto derived from the Dearborn Financial Statements, present fairly in all material respects the information contained therein, have been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines with respect to pro forma financial statements, and the assumptions used in the preparation thereof are reasonable and the adjustments used therein are appropriate to give effect to the transactions and circumstances referred to therein.

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(ee) No Material Adverse Change in Business . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, since the end of the period covered by the latest audited financial statements included in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus (i) there has been no change, in the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, the Subsidiaries, or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, taken as a whole that is material and adverse, (ii) except as disclosed in or contemplated by the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital stock and (iii) except as disclosed in or contemplated by the General Disclosure Package, there has been no material adverse change in the capital stock, short-term indebtedness, long-term indebtedness, net current assets or net assets of the Company.

(ff) Investment Company Act . The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Offered Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, will not be an “investment company” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “ Investment Company Act ”).

(gg) Ratings . No “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act (i) has imposed (or has informed the Company that it is considering imposing) any condition (financial or otherwise) on the Company’s retaining any rating assigned to the Company or AK Steel Corporation or any securities of the Company or AK Steel Corporation or (ii) has indicated to the Company that it is considering any of the actions described in Section 7(c)(ii) hereof.

(hh)  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. None of the Company or, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, any of the Subsidiaries, Dearborn, or their respective directors, officers, agents, employees or affiliates is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the FCPA, including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA and the Company and, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, the Subsidiaries and affiliates and Dearborn have conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA and have devised or instituted and enforce policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith. In addition, none of the Company or, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, any of the Subsidiaries, Dearborn, or their respective directors, officers, agents, employees or affiliates is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the U.K. Bribery Act 2010.

(ii)  Compliance with Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, are and have been conducted at all times in compliance in all material respects with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency, and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of the Subsidiaries with respect to such statutes, rules, regulations and guidelines is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.

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(jj)  No Conflicts with Sanctions Laws . Neither the Company, its Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, or any of their respective directors, officers or employees, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company any of its Subsidiaries or Dearborn is currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. government (including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“ OFAC ”) or the U.S. Department of State and including, without limitation, the designation as a “specially designated national” or “blocked person”), the United Nations Security Council (“ UNSC ”), the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury (“ HMT ”) or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “ Sanctions ”), nor is the Company, any of its subsidiaries or to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or target of Sanctions, including, without limitation, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria (each, a “ Sanctioned Country ”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Offered Securities hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any Subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business with any person that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject or target of Sanctions, (ii) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business in any Sanctioned Country or (iii) in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions. For the past five years, the Company and the Subsidiaries, and to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have not knowingly engaged in and are not now knowingly engaged in any dealings or transactions with any person that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject or the target of Sanctions or with any Sanctioned Country.

(kk)  Taxes. The Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have filed all federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax returns that are required to be filed or have requested extensions thereof (except in any case in which the failure so to file would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect); and, except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have paid all taxes (including any assessments, fines or penalties) required to be paid by them, except for any such taxes, assessments, fines or penalties currently being contested in good faith or as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(ll)  Insurance . The Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, are insured by insurers with appropriately rated claims paying abilities against such losses and risks and in such amounts as are prudent and customary for the businesses in which they are engaged; all policies of insurance insuring the Company, any of the Subsidiaries or Dearborn or their respective businesses, assets, employees, officers and directors are in full force and effect; the Company, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, are in compliance with the terms of such policies and instruments in all material respects; and there are no claims by the Company, any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, by Dearborn, under any such policy or instrument as to which any insurance company is denying liability or defending under a reservation of rights clause; none of the Company, any such Subsidiary, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for; and none of the Company, any such Subsidiary, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business at a cost that would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus.

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3. Purchase, Sale and Delivery of Offered Securities . On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements and subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Company agrees to sell to the several Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of $8.595 per share, the respective number of shares of Firm Securities set forth opposite the names of the Underwriters in Schedule A hereto.

The Company will deliver the Firm Securities to or as instructed by the Representatives for the accounts of the several Underwriters in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives against payment of the purchase price by the Underwriters in Federal (same day) funds by wire transfer to an account at a bank acceptable to the Representatives drawn to the order of the Company at the office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, 450 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017 at 9:00 A.M., New York time, on September 16, 2014, or at such other time not later than seven full business days thereafter as the Representatives and the Company determine, such time being herein referred to as the “ First Closing Date ”. For purposes of Rule 15c6-1 under the Exchange Act, the First Closing Date (if later than the otherwise applicable settlement date) shall be the settlement date for payment of funds and delivery of securities for all the Offered Securities sold pursuant to the offering.

In addition, upon written notice from the Representatives given to the Company from time to time not more than 30 days subsequent to the date of the Final Prospectus, the Underwriters, on the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements set forth herein and subject to the conditions set forth herein, may purchase all or less than all of the Optional Securities at the purchase price per Security to be paid for the Firm Securities less an amount per share equal to any dividends or distributions declared by the Company and payable on the Firm Securities but not payable on the Option Securities. The Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters the number of shares of Optional Securities specified in such notice and the Underwriters agree, severally and not jointly, to purchase such Optional Securities. Such Optional Securities shall be purchased for the account of each Underwriter in the same proportion as the number of shares of Firm Securities set forth opposite such Underwriter’s name bears to the total number of shares of Firm Securities (or such number increased as set forth in Section 9 hereof) (subject to adjustment by the Representatives to eliminate fractions) and may be purchased by the Underwriters only for the purpose of covering over-allotments made in connection with the sale of the Firm Securities. No Optional Securities shall be sold or delivered unless the Firm Securities previously have been, or simultaneously are, sold and delivered. The right to purchase the Optional Securities or any portion thereof may be exercised from time to time and to the extent not previously exercised may be surrendered and terminated at any time upon notice by the Representatives to the Company.

Each time for the delivery of and payment for the Optional Securities, being herein referred to as an “ Optional Closing Date ”, which may be the First Closing Date (the First Closing Date and each Optional Closing Date, if any, being sometimes referred to as a “ Closing Date ”), shall be determined by the Representatives but shall be at least one business day and not later than ten full business days after written notice of election to purchase Optional Securities is given. The Company will deliver the Optional Securities being purchased on each Optional Closing Date to or as instructed by the Representatives for the accounts of the several Underwriters in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives against payment of the purchase price therefor in Federal (same day) funds by wire transfer to an account at a bank acceptable to the Representatives drawn to the order of the Company, at the above office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

4. Offering by Underwriters . It is understood that the several Underwriters propose to offer the Offered Securities for sale to the public as set forth in the Final Prospectus.

5. Certain Agreements of the Company . The Company agrees with the several Underwriters that:

(a) Filing of Prospectuses. The Company has filed or will file each Statutory Prospectus (including the Final Prospectus) pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 424(b)(2) of the Act (or, if applicable and consented to by the Representatives, subparagraph (5)) not later than the second business day following the earlier of the date it is first used or the execution and delivery of this Agreement. The Company has complied and will comply with Rule 433 of the Act.

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(b) Filing of Amendments; Response to Commission Requests . The Company will promptly advise the Representatives of any proposal to amend or supplement the Registration Statement or any Statutory Prospectus at any time and will offer the Representatives a reasonable opportunity to comment on any such amendment or supplement; and the Company will also advise the Representatives promptly of (i) the filing of any such amendment or supplement, (ii) any request by the Commission or its staff for any amendment to the Registration Statement, for any supplement to any Statutory Prospectus or for any additional information, (iii) the institution by the Commission of any stop order proceedings in respect of the Registration Statement or the threatening of any proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act, and (iv) the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Offered Securities in any jurisdiction or the institution or threatening of any proceedings for such purpose. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or the suspension of any such qualification and, if issued, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal thereof.

(c) Continued Compliance with Securities Laws . (i) If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Offered Securities is (or but for the exemption in Rule 172 would be) required to be delivered under the Act by any Underwriter or dealer, any event occurs as a result of which the Final Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or if it is necessary at any time to amend the Registration Statement or supplement the Final Prospectus to comply with the Act, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives of such event and will promptly prepare and file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and the dealers and any other dealers upon request of the Representatives, an amendment or supplement which will correct such statement or omission or an amendment which will effect such compliance; and (ii) if at any time prior to the filing of the Final Prospectus, any event occurs as a result of which the General Disclosure Package as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or if it is necessary at any time to amend the General Disclosure Package to comply with law, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives of such event and will promptly prepare and file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and the dealers and any other dealers upon request of the Representatives, a supplement that will correct such statement or omission or an amendment that will effect such compliance. Neither the Representatives’ consent to, nor the Underwriters’ delivery of, any such amendment or supplement shall constitute a waiver of any of the conditions set forth in Section 7 hereof.

(d) Rule 158. As soon as practicable, but not later than 16 months, after the date of this Agreement, the Company will make generally available to its securityholders an earnings statement covering a period of at least 12 months beginning after the date of this Agreement and satisfying the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158.

(e) Furnishing of Prospectuses . The Company will furnish to the Representatives copies of the Registration Statement, including all exhibits, any Statutory Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and all amendments and supplements to such documents, in each case as soon as available and in such quantities as the Representatives reasonably request. The Company will pay the expenses of printing and distributing to the Underwriters all such documents.

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(f) Blue Sky Compliance . The Company will qualify the Offered Securities for offer and sale under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives shall reasonably request and will continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for distribution of the Securities; provided that the Company shall not be required to (i) qualify as a foreign corporation or other entity or as a dealer in securities in any such jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to so qualify, (ii) file any general consent to service of process in any such jurisdiction or (iii) subject itself to taxation in any such jurisdiction if it is not otherwise so subject.

(g) Reporting Requirements . The Company, during the period when the Final Prospectus is required to be delivered under the Act, will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act within the time periods required by the Exchange Act.

(h) Payment of Expenses . The Company will pay all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including but not limited to (i) any filing fees and other expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters) incurred in connection with qualification of the Offered Securities for sale under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives designate and the preparation and printing of memoranda relating thereto, (ii) the filing fees for FINRA’s review of the offering of the Offered Securities, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters in connection with compliance with FINRA’s rules and regulations, (iii) any fees charged by investment rating agencies for the rating of the Offered Securities, (iv) costs and expenses relating to investor presentations or any “road show” in connection with the offering and sale of the Offered Securities, any travel expenses of the Company’s officers and employees and any other expenses of the Company including the chartering of airplanes, (v) fees and expenses incident to listing the Offered Securities on the New York Stock Exchange, (vi) fees and expenses in connection with the registration of the Offered Securities under the Exchange Act, and (vii) expenses incurred in distributing preliminary prospectuses and the Final Prospectus (including any amendments and supplements thereto) to the Underwriters and for expenses incurred for preparing, printing and distributing any Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses to investors or prospective investors. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in subclauses (i) and (ii) of this clause (h), and Sections 8 and 10 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, transfer taxes on resale of any of the Securities and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

(i) Use of Proceeds . The Company will use the net proceeds received in connection with this offering in the manner described in the “Use of Proceeds” section of the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus and, except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Offered Securities hereunder to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of any Underwriter.

(j) Absence of Manipulation . The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any securities of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Offered Securities.

(k) Restriction on Sale of Securities. For a period of 90 days after the date hereof, the Company will not (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with the Commission a registration statement under the Securities Act relating to, any shares of Securities or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Securities, or publicly disclose the intention to make any offer, sale, pledge, disposition or filing, or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in

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whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of Securities or any such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Securities or such other securities, in cash or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, other than (w) the Offered Securities to be sold hereunder, (x) any underlying shares of Securities to be exchanged pursuant to AK Steel Corporation’s 5.00% Exchangeable Senior Notes due November 2019 upon the election of a holder of such notes pursuant to their terms, (y) any shares of Securities of the Company, options to purchase such shares of Securities, restricted stock or restricted stock units granted pursuant to the Company’s management incentive plans in effect on the date hereof and (z) shares of Securities of the Company issued upon the exercise of options or vesting of restricted stock or restricted stock units pursuant to the terms of the Company’s management incentive plans in effect on the date hereof.

6. Free Writing Prospectuses . (a)  Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses. The Company represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Representatives, and each Underwriter represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Offered Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405, required to be filed with the Commission. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Company and the Representatives is hereinafter referred to as a “ Permitted Free Writing Prospectus .” The Company represents that it has treated and agrees that it will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely Commission filing where required, legending and record keeping.

(b) Term Sheets . The Company will prepare a final term sheet relating to the Offered Securities, containing only information that describes the final terms of the Offered Securities and otherwise in a form consented to by the Representatives, and will file such final term sheet within the period required by Rule 433(d)(5)(ii) following the date such final terms have been established for all classes of the offering of the Offered Securities. Any such final term sheet is an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and a Permitted Free Writing Prospectus for purposes of this Agreement. The Company and the Representatives also consent to the use by an Underwriter of a free writing prospectus that contains only (i)(x) information describing the preliminary terms of the Offered Securities or their offering or (y) information that describes the final terms of the Offered Securities or their offering and that is included in the final term sheet of the Company contemplated in the first sentence of this subsection or (ii) other information that is not “issuer information” as defined in Rule 433, it being understood that any such free writing prospectus referred to in clause (i) or (ii) above shall not be an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus for purposes of this Agreement.

7. Conditions of the Obligations of the Underwriters . The obligations of the several Underwriters to purchase and pay for the Firm Securities on the First Closing Date and the Optional Securities to be purchased on each Optional Closing Date will be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company herein (on the date hereof and as though made on such Closing Date), to the accuracy of the statements of Company officers made pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions precedent:

(a)  Accountants’ Comfort Letter . The Representatives shall have received letters, dated, respectively, the date hereof and each Closing Date, of Ernst & Young LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP and, with respect to Dearborn, KPMG LLP, confirming that they are registered public accounting firms and independent public accountants within the meaning of the Securities Laws and substantially in the form agreed to with the Representatives (except that, in any letter dated a Closing Date, the specified date referred to in the letter shall be a date no more than three days prior to such Closing Date).

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(b)  Filing of Prospectus. The Final Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission in accordance with the Rules and Regulations and Section 5(a) hereof. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act shall have been instituted or, to the knowledge of the Company or any Underwriter, shall be contemplated by the Commission.

(c)  No Material Adverse Change . Subsequent to the Applicable Time, there shall not have occurred (i) any change in the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, the Subsidiaries and Dearborn taken as a whole which, in the judgment of the Representatives, is material and adverse and makes it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Offered Securities; (ii) any downgrading in the rating of any debt securities of the Company or AK Steel Corporation by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined in Section 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act), or any public announcement that any such organization has under surveillance or review its rating of any debt securities of the Company or AK Steel Corporation (other than an announcement with positive implications of a possible upgrading, and no implication of a possible downgrading, of such rating); (iii) any change in U.S. or international financial, political or economic conditions or currency exchange rates or exchange controls the effect of which is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impractical to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery or to enforce contracts for the sale of the Offered Securities, whether in the primary market or in respect of dealings in the secondary market; (iv) any suspension or material limitation of trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange, or any setting of minimum or maximum prices for trading on such exchange; (v) or any suspension of trading of any securities of the Company on any exchange or in the over-the-counter market; (vi) any banking moratorium declared by any U.S. federal or New York authorities; (vii) any major disruption of settlements of securities, payment, or clearance services in the United States or any other country where such securities are listed or (viii) any attack on, outbreak or escalation of hostilities or act of terrorism involving the United States, any declaration of war by the U.S. Congress or any other national or international calamity or emergency if, in the judgment of the Representatives, the effect of any such attack, outbreak, escalation, act, declaration, calamity or emergency is such as to make it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Offered Securities or to enforce contracts for the sale of the Offered Securities.

(d)  Opinion of Counsel for Company . The Representatives shall have received an opinion, dated such Closing Date, of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, counsel for the Company substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A.

(e) Opinion of Counsel for Underwriters. The Representatives shall have received from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion or opinions, dated such Closing Date, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters.

(f)  Officer’s Certificate . The Representatives shall have received a certificate, dated such Closing Date, of an executive officer of the Company and a principal financial or accounting officer of the Company in which such officers shall state that: the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct; the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to such Closing Date; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has

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been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the best of their knowledge and after reasonable investigation, are contemplated by the Commission; and, subsequent to the date of the most recent financial statements in the General Disclosure Package, there has been no material adverse change in the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, the Subsidiaries, and to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, taken as a whole except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package or as described in such certificate.

(g) Lock-Up Agreements. The “lock-up” agreements, each substantially in the form of Exhibit B hereto, between you and the officers and directors of the Company listed on Schedule C hereto relating to sales and certain other dispositions of shares of the Securities or certain other securities, delivered to you on or before the date hereof, shall be full force and effect on such Closing Date.

The Company will furnish the Representatives with such conformed copies of such opinions, certificates, letters and documents as the Representatives reasonably request. The Representatives may waive on behalf of the Underwriters compliance with any conditions to the obligations of the Underwriters hereunder, whether in respect of an Optional Closing Date or otherwise.

8. Indemnification and Contribution . (a)  Indemnification of Underwriters . The Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its partners, members, directors, officers, employees, agents, affiliates and each person, if any, who controls such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (each, an “ Indemnified Party ”), against any and all losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Indemnified Party may become subject, under the Act, the Exchange Act, other Federal or state statutory law or regulation or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of the Registration Statement at any time, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of any Statutory Prospectus as of any time, the Final Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in each case in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and will reimburse each Indemnified Party for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Indemnified Party in connection with investigating or defending against any loss, claim, damage, liability, action, litigation, investigation or proceeding whatsoever (whether or not such Indemnified Party is a party thereto), whether threatened or commenced, and in connection with the enforcement of this provision with respect to any of the above as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement in or omission or alleged omission from any of such documents in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in subsection (b) below.

(b) Indemnification of Company . Each Underwriter will severally and not jointly indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors and each of its officers who signs a Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (each, an “ Underwriter Indemnified Party ”), against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which such Underwriter Indemnified Party may become subject, under the Act, the Exchange Act, other Federal or state statutory law or regulation or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of the Registration Statement at any

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time, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of any Statutory Prospectus as of any time, the Final Prospectus, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in each case in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, and will reimburse any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter Indemnified Party in connection with investigating or defending against any such loss, claim, damage, liability, action, litigation, investigation or proceeding whatsoever (whether or not such Underwriter Indemnified Party is a party thereto), whether threatened or commenced, based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission as such expenses are incurred, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Final Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the concession figure appearing in the fifth paragraph under the caption “Underwriting” and the information contained in the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth paragraphs under the caption “Underwriting” relating to stabilizing activities.

(c) Actions against Parties; Notification . Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 8, notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof; but the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under subsection (a) or (b) above except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided further that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under subsection (a) or (b) above. In case any such action is brought against any indemnified party and it notifies the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it may wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not, except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party), and after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party will not be liable to such indemnified party under this Section for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened action in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party unless such settlement (i) includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on any claims that are the subject matter of such action and (ii) does not include a statement as to, or an admission of, fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of an indemnified party.

(d) Contribution . If the indemnification provided for in this Section is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to herein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to herein (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Offered Securities or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the

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same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The amount paid by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to in the first sentence of this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any action or claim which is the subject of this subsection (d). Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (d) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 8(d) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this Section 8(d).

9. Default of Underwriters . If any Underwriter or Underwriters default in their obligations to purchase Offered Securities hereunder on either the First or any Optional Closing Date and the aggregate number of shares of Offered Securities that such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase does not exceed 10% of the total number of shares of Offered Securities that the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on such Closing Date, the Representatives may make arrangements satisfactory to the Company for the purchase of such Offered Securities by other persons, including any of the Underwriters, but if no such arrangements are made by such Closing Date, the non-defaulting Underwriters shall be obligated severally, in proportion to their respective commitments hereunder, to purchase the Offered Securities that such defaulting Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase on such Closing Date. If any Underwriter or Underwriters so default and the aggregate number of shares of Offered Securities with respect to which such default or defaults occur exceeds 10% of the total number of shares of Offered Securities that the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on such Closing Date and arrangements satisfactory to the Representatives and the Company for the purchase of such Offered Securities by other persons are not made within 36 hours after such default, this Agreement will terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except as provided in Section 10 (provided that if such default occurs with respect to Optional Securities after the First Closing Date, this Agreement will not terminate as to the Firm Securities or any Optional Securities purchased prior to such termination). As used in this Agreement, the term “Underwriter” includes any person substituted for an Underwriter under this Section. Nothing herein will relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

10. Survival of Certain Representations and Obligations . The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company or its officers and of the several Underwriters set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation, or statement as to the results thereof, made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, the Company or any of their respective representatives, officers or directors or any controlling person, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Offered Securities. If the purchase of the Offered Securities by the Underwriters is not consummated for any reason other than solely because of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 9 hereof, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters for all out-of-pocket expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel) reasonably incurred by them in connection with the offering of the Offered Securities, and the respective obligations of the Company and the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8 hereof shall remain in effect. For the avoidance of doubt, if this

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Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 9 hereof, the respective obligations of the Company and the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8 hereof shall remain in effect. In addition, if any Offered Securities have been purchased hereunder, the representations and warranties in Section 2 and all obligations under Section 5 shall also remain in effect.

11. Notices . All communications hereunder will be in writing and, if sent to the Underwriters, will be mailed, delivered or telegraphed and confirmed to the Representatives, c/o Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated, One Bryant Park, New York, N.Y., 10036, Facsimile: (646) 855-3073, Attention: Syndicate Department, with a copy to: Facsimile: (212) 230-8730, Attention: ECM Legal, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010-3629, Attention: LCD-IBD, and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10179, or, if sent to the Company, will be mailed, delivered or telegraphed and confirmed to it at AK Steel Holding Corporation, 9227 Centre Point Drive, West Chester, OH 45069, Attention: General Counsel; provided, however, that any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 8 will be mailed, delivered or telegraphed and confirmed to such Underwriter.

12. In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.

13. Successors . This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers and directors and controlling persons referred to in Section 8, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder.

14. Representation of Underwriters . The Representatives will act for the several Underwriters in connection with this financing, and any action under this Agreement taken by the Representatives jointly will be binding upon all the Underwriters.

15. Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same Agreement.

16. Absence of Fiduciary Relationship. The Company acknowledges and agrees that:

(a) No Other Relationship . The Underwriters have been retained solely to act as underwriters in connection with the sale of Offered Securities and that no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company and the Underwriters has been created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Final Prospectus, irrespective of whether the Underwriters have advised or is advising the Company on other matters;

(b) Arms’ Length Negotiations . The price of the Offered Securities set forth in this Agreement was established by the Company following discussions and arms-length negotiations with the Underwriters and the Company is capable of evaluating and understanding and understands and accepts the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;

(c) Absence of Obligation to Disclose . The Company has been advised that the Underwriters and their affiliates are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that the Underwriters have no obligation to disclose such interests and transactions to the Company by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship; and

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(d) Waiver . The Company waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims it may have against the Underwriters for breach of fiduciary duty or alleged breach of fiduciary duty and agrees that the Underwriters shall have no liability (whether direct or indirect) to the Company in respect of such a fiduciary duty claim or to any person asserting a fiduciary duty claim on behalf of or in right of the Company, including stockholders, employees or creditors of the Company.

17. Applicable Law . This Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

The Company hereby submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal and state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. The Company irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue of any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby in Federal and state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York and irrevocably and unconditionally waives and agrees not to plead or claim in any such court that any such suit or proceeding in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

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If the foregoing is in accordance with the Representatives’ understanding of our agreement, kindly sign and return to the Company one of the counterparts hereof, whereupon it will become a binding agreement between the Company and the several Underwriters in accordance with its terms.

[Signature page to Underwriting Agreement]

The foregoing Underwriting Agreement is hereby confirmed and accepted as of the date first above written.

M ERRILL L YNCH , P IERCE , F ENNER  & S MITH I NCORPORATED

C REDIT S UISSE S ECURITIES (USA) LLC

J.P. M ORGAN S ECURITIES LLC

Acting on behalf of themselves and as the Representatives of the several Underwriters

By M ERRILL L YNCH , P IERCE , F ENNER  & S MITH I NCORPORATED

By C REDIT S UISSE S ECURITIES (USA) LLC

By J.P. M ORGAN S ECURITIES LLC

[Signature page to Underwriting Agreement]

A-1

SCHEDULE B

“General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” includes each of the following documents:

1. None.

The following information is also included in the General Disclosure Package:

1. The initial price to the public of the Offered Securities: $9.00 per share.

2. Total number of Firm Securities: 35,000,000 shares.

3. Total number of Optional Securities: 5,250,000 shares.

B-1

SCHEDULE C

Exhibit 1.2

$430,000,000

AK Steel Corporation

7.625% Senior Notes due 2021

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

September 11, 2014

C REDIT S UISSE S ECURITIES (USA) LLC,

C ITIGROUP G LOBAL M ARKETS I NC .,

J.P. M ORGAN S ECURITIES LLC,

As Representatives of the several Underwriters,

c/o Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

Eleven Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10010-3629,

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

388 Greenwich Street

New York, N.Y. 10013

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y. 10179, and

Dear Sirs:

1. Introductory . AK Steel Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“ Company ”), AK Steel Holding Corporation (the “ Parent ”), AK Tube LLC (“ AK Tube ”) and AK Steel Properties, Inc. (“ AK Properties ,” and together with the Parent and AK Tube the “ Guarantors ” and each a “ Guarantor ”), agree with the several Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto (“ Underwriters ”) to issue and sell to the several Underwriters $430,000,000 principal amount of the Company’s 7.625% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “ Offered Securities ”), to be issued under that certain indenture, dated as of May 11, 2010 between the Company, the Parent and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (the “ Base Indenture ”), and that certain fifth supplemental indenture, to be dated as of the Closing Date between the Company, the Guarantors and U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee (the “ Fifth Supplemental Indenture ”, and together with the Base Indenture, the “ Indenture ”).

The Offered Securities will be guaranteed on an unsecured senior basis by each Guarantor (such guarantee, the “ Guarantee ” and collectively, the “ Guarantees ”).

The proceeds of the Offered Securities will be used, together with the proceeds of the concurrent offering of Parent’s shares of common stock (the “ Common Stock Offering ”), to finance the Company’s acquisition (the “ Dearborn Acquisition ”) of Severstal Dearborn, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (together with its subsidiaries, “ Dearborn ”), pursuant to the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement, dated July 18, 2014, by and among Severstal Columbus Holdings, LLC, Dearborn and the Company (the “ Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ”).

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2. Representations and Warranties of the Company and the Guarantors . The Company and the Guarantors jointly and severally represent and warrant to, and agree with, the several Underwriters that:

(a) Filing and Effectiveness of Registration Statement; Certain Defined Terms . The Parent has filed with the Commission a registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-194078), as amended by Post-Effective Amendment No. 1, each including a related prospectus or prospectuses, covering the registration of the Offered Securities under the Act, which has become effective. “ Registration Statement ” at any particular time means such registration statement in the form then filed with the Commission, including any amendment thereto, any document incorporated by reference therein and all 430B Information and all 430C Information with respect to such registration statement, that in any case has not been superseded or modified. “ Registration Statement ” without reference to a time means the Registration Statement as of the Effective Time. For purposes of this definition, 430B Information shall be considered to be included in the Registration Statement as of the time specified in Rule 430B.

For purposes of this Agreement:

“ 430B Information ” means information included in a prospectus then deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B(e) or retroactively deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B(f).

“ 430C Information ” means information included in a prospectus then deemed to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430C.

“ Act ” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“ Applicable Time ” means 7:30 A.M. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement.

“ Closing Date ” has the meaning defined in Section 3 hereof.

“ Commission ” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“ Effective Time ” of the Registration Statement relating to the Offered Securities means the time of the first contract of sale for the Offered Securities.

“ Exchange Act ” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

“ FCPA ” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder.

“ Final Prospectus ” means the Statutory Prospectus that discloses the public offering price, other 430B Information and other final terms of the Offered Securities and otherwise satisfies Section 10(a) of the Act.

“ General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced by its being so specified in Schedule B to this Agreement.

“ Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, relating to the Offered Securities in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g).

“ Limited Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not a General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus.

“ Rules and Regulations ” means the rules and regulations of the Commission.

“ Securities Laws ” means, collectively, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“ Sarbanes-Oxley ”), the Act, the Exchange Act, the Trust Indenture Act, the Rules and Regulations, the auditing principles, rules, standards and practices applicable to auditors of “issuers” (as defined in Sarbanes-Oxley) promulgated or approved by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and, as applicable, the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock Market (“ Exchange Rules ”).

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“ Statutory Prospectus ” with reference to any particular time means the prospectus relating to the Offered Securities that is included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to that time, including all 430B Information and all 430C Information with respect to the Registration Statement. For purposes of the foregoing definition, 430B Information shall be considered to be included in the Statutory Prospectus only as of the actual time that form of prospectus (including a prospectus supplement) is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) and not retroactively.

“ Subsidiary ” means each direct and indirect subsidiary of Parent.

“ Trust Indenture Act ” means the Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

Unless otherwise specified, a reference to a “rule” is to the indicated rule under the Act.

(b)  Compliance with Securities Act Requirements . (i) (A) At the time the Registration Statement initially became effective, (B) at the time of each amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether by post-effective amendment, incorporated report or form of prospectus), (C) at the Effective Time relating to the Offered Securities and (D) on the Closing Date, the Registration Statement conformed and will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act, the Trust Indenture Act and the Rules and Regulations and did not and will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading and (ii) (A) on its date, (B) at the time of filing the Final Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) and (C) on the Closing Date, the Final Prospectus will conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Act and the Rules and Regulations, and will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any such document based upon written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information is that described as such in Section 8(b) hereof.

(c) Automatic Shelf Registration Statement . (i)  Well-Known Seasoned Issuer Status . (A) At the time of initial filing of the Registration Statement, (B) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment, incorporated report filed pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act or form of prospectus), and (C) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c)) made any offer relating to the Offered Securities in reliance on the exemption of Rule 163, Parent was a “well known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405, including not having been an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405.

(ii) Effectiveness of Automatic Shelf Registration Statement . The Registration Statement is an “automatic shelf registration statement,” as defined in Rule 405, that initially became effective within three years of the date of this Agreement.

(iii) Eligibility to Use Automatic Shelf Registration Form . Parent has not received from the Commission any notice pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) objecting to use of the automatic shelf registration statement form. If at any time when Offered Securities remain unsold by the Underwriters Parent receives from the Commission a notice pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) or otherwise ceases to be eligible to use the automatic shelf registration statement form and such Underwriters are required to deliver a prospectus for the Offered Securities, Parent will (i) promptly notify the Representatives, (ii) promptly file a new registration statement or post-effective amendment on the proper form relating to the Offered Securities, in a form satisfactory to the Representatives, (iii) use its reasonable best efforts to cause such registration statement or post-effective amendment to be declared effective as soon as practicable, and (iv) promptly notify the Representatives of such effectiveness. Parent will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the public offering and sale of the Offered Securities to continue as contemplated in the registration statement that was the subject of the Rule 401(g)(2) notice or for which Parent has otherwise become ineligible. References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new registration statement or post-effective amendment, as the case may be.

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(iv) Filing Fees . Parent has paid or shall pay the required Commission filing fees relating to the Offered Securities within the time required by Rule 456(b)(1) without regard to the proviso therein and otherwise in accordance with Rules 456(b) and 457(r).

(d) General Disclosure Package . As of the Applicable Time, neither (i) the General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus(es) issued at or prior to the Applicable Time and the preliminary prospectus supplement, dated September 8, 2014, including the base prospectus, dated September 8, 2014 (which is the most recent Statutory Prospectus distributed to investors generally), and the other information, if any, stated in Schedule B to this Agreement to be included in the General Disclosure Package, all considered together (collectively, the “ General Disclosure Package ”), nor (ii) any individual Limited Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The preceding sentence does not apply to statements in or omissions from any Statutory Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in Section 8(b) hereof.

(e) Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses . Each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Offered Securities or until any earlier date that the Company notified or notifies the Representatives as described in the next sentence, did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information then contained in the Registration Statement. If at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information then contained in the Registration Statement or as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, if republished immediately following such event or development, would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, (i) the Company has promptly notified or will promptly notify the Representatives and (ii) the Company has promptly amended or will promptly amend or supplement such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission.

(f) Good Standing of the Company and Parent . Each of the Company and Parent has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the General Disclosure Package; and each of the Company and Parent is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation in good standing in all other jurisdictions in which its ownership or lease of property or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse effect on the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, Parent, the Subsidiaries and Dearborn and its subsidiaries, pro forma for the Dearborn Acquisition, taken as a whole (“ Material Adverse Effect ”).

(g) Subsidiaries . Each Subsidiary, and to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, has been duly incorporated and is existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, with power and authority (corporate and other) to own its properties and conduct its business as described in the General Disclosure Package; and each Subsidiary is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation in good standing in all other jurisdictions in which its

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ownership or lease of property or the conduct of its business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect; all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of each Subsidiary has been duly authorized and validly issued and is fully paid and nonassessable; and except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, all of the capital stock of each Subsidiary is owned by Parent, directly or indirectly, free from liens, encumbrances and defects.

(h) Execution and Delivery of Indenture; Offered Securities; Guarantee . The Indenture has been duly authorized by the Company and the Guarantors and has been duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act; the Base Indenture constitutes, and, as of the Closing Date, the Indenture will constitute a valid and legally binding obligation of the Company and the Guarantors, enforceable against each of them in accordance with its terms, subject to bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws of general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general equity principles (collectively, the “ Enforceability Exceptions ”); the Offered Securities have been duly authorized by the Company and, when the Offered Securities are delivered and paid for pursuant to this Agreement on the Closing Date, the Indenture having been duly executed and delivered, such Offered Securities will have been duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered, will conform in all material respects to the information in the General Disclosure Package and to the description of such Offered Securities contained in the Final Prospectus, and such Offered Securities will constitute valid and legally binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, subject to the Enforceability Exceptions; and the Guarantees to be endorsed on the Offered Securities by the Guarantors have been duly authorized by each such Guarantor and, when the Offered Securities are executed, authenticated, issued and delivered as provided in the Indenture and paid for as provided herein the Guarantee of each Guarantor endorsed thereon will have been duly executed and delivered by such Guarantor, will conform in all material respects to the information in the General Disclosure Package and to the description of such Guarantee contained in the Final Prospectus and will constitute a valid and legally binding obligation of each Guarantor, enforceable against such Guarantor in accordance with its terms, subject to the Enforceability Exceptions.

(i) No Finder’s Fee . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company or any Guarantor and any person that would give rise to a valid claim against the Company, any Guarantor or any Underwriter for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or other like payment in connection with this offering.

(j) Absence of Further Requirements . No consent, approval, authorization, or order of, or filing or registration with, any person (including any governmental agency or body or any court) is required for the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Indenture in connection with the offering, issuance and sale of the Offered Securities by the Company or the sale of the Guarantees by the Guarantors, except (i) such as have been obtained, or made and such as may be required under state securities laws and (ii) except for such consents approvals, authorizations, orders, filings or registrations that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect or a material adverse effect on the ability of the Company and the Guarantors to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby.

(k) Title to Property . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have good and marketable title to all real properties and all other properties and assets owned by them, in each case free from liens, charges, encumbrances and defects except where the failure to have such title or the existence of such lien, charge, encumbrance or defect would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, and except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the

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Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, hold any leased real or personal property under valid and enforceable leases with no terms or provisions that would materially interfere with the use made or to be made thereof by them.

(l) Absence of Defaults and Conflicts Resulting from Transaction . The execution, delivery and performance of the Indenture and this Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Offered Securities and the Guarantees and compliance with the terms and provisions thereof will not result in a breach or violation of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a default or a Debt Repayment Triggering Event (as defined below) under, or result in the imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, pursuant to (i) the charter, by-laws or other organizational instrument or document of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, (ii) any statute, rule, regulation or order of any governmental agency or body or any court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, or any of their properties, or (iii) any agreement or instrument to which the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is a party or by which the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries is bound or to which any of the properties of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries is subject, except, in the case of (iii) above, for such conflicts, breaches, violations, liens, charges or encumbrances that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; a “ Debt Repayment Triggering Event ” means any event or condition that gives, or with the giving of notice or lapse of time would give, the holder of any note, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of such indebtedness by the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn.

(m) Absence of Existing Defaults and Conflicts . Neither the Company, Parent nor any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is in violation of its respective charter or by-laws or in default (or with the giving of notice or lapse of time would be in default) under any existing obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, loan agreement, mortgage, lease or other agreement or instrument to which any of them is a party or by which any of them is bound or to which any of the properties of any of them is subject, except such defaults that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(n) Authorization of Agreement . This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and each Guarantor.

(o) Possession of Licenses and Permits . The Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, possess, and are in compliance with the terms of, all adequate certificates, authorizations, franchises, licenses and permits (“ Licenses ”) necessary or material to the conduct of the business now conducted or proposed in the General Disclosure Package to be conducted by them and have not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any Licenses that, if determined adversely to the Company, Parent, any of the Subsidiaries or Dearborn, would individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(p) Absence of Labor Dispute . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and Final Prospectus, no labor dispute with the employees of the Company, Parent, or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, exists or, to the knowledge of the Company or any Guarantor, as applicable, is threatened that would, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

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(q) Possession of Intellectual Property . The Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, own, possess or can acquire on reasonable terms, adequate trademarks, trade names and other rights to inventions, know-how, patents, copyrights, confidential information and other intellectual property (collectively, “ intellectual property rights ”) necessary to conduct the business now operated by them, or presently employed by them, and have not received any notice of infringement of or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any intellectual property rights that, if determined adversely to the Company, Parent, any of the Subsidiaries or Dearborn, would individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(r) Environmental Laws . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, (a)(i) none of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is in violation of, or has any liability under, any federal, state, local or non-U.S. statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, code, other requirement or rule of law (including common law), or decision or order of any domestic or foreign governmental agency, governmental body or court, relating to pollution, to the use, handling, transportation, treatment, storage, discharge, disposal or release of Hazardous Substances, to the protection or restoration of the environment or natural resources (including biota), to health and safety as such relates to exposure to Hazardous Substances, and to natural resource damages (collectively, “ Environmental Laws ”), (ii) none of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, owns, occupies, operates or uses any real property contaminated with Hazardous Substances, (iii) none of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is conducting or funding any investigation, remediation, remedial action or monitoring of actual or suspected Hazardous Substances in the environment, (iv) none of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is liable or, to its knowledge, allegedly liable for any release or threatened release of Hazardous Substances, including at any off-site treatment, storage or disposal site, (v) none of the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, is subject to any claim by any governmental agency or governmental body or person relating to Environmental Laws or Hazardous Substances, and (vi) the Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have received and are in compliance with all, and have no liability under any, permits, licenses, authorizations, identification numbers or other approvals required under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses, except in each case covered by clauses (i) – (vi) such as would not individually or in the aggregate reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; (b) to the knowledge of the Company or the Guarantors, as applicable, there are no facts or circumstances that would reasonably be expected to result in a violation of, liability under, or claim pursuant to, any Environmental Law that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and (c) to the knowledge of the Company or the Guarantors, as applicable, there are no Environmental Laws or requirements proposed for adoption or implementation under any Environmental Law that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. For purposes of this subsection, “ Hazardous Substances ” means (A) petroleum and petroleum products, by-products or breakdown products, radioactive materials, asbestos-containing materials, polychlorinated biphenyls and mold, and (B) any other chemical, material or substance defined or regulated as toxic or hazardous or as a pollutant, contaminant or waste under Environmental Laws.

(s) Accurate Disclosure . The statements in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus under the heading “Description of Notes” and “Description of Certain Indebtedness,” insofar as such statements summarize legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings discussed therein, are accurate and fair summaries of such legal matters, agreements, documents or proceedings and present the information required to be shown.

(t) Accurate Tax Disclosure. To the extent that the statements set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” purport to describe certain provisions of the United States federal tax laws referred to therein, such summaries fairly describe, in all material respects, such provisions.

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(u) Absence of Manipulation . Neither the Company nor any Guarantor has taken, directly or indirectly, any action that is designed to or that has constituted or that would reasonably be expected to cause or result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Offered Securities.

(v) Statistical and Market-Related Data . Any third-party statistical and market-related data included or incorporated by reference in the General Disclosure Package or in the Final Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company and the Guarantors believe to be reliable and accurate.

(w) Internal Controls and Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act . Except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, Parent, the Company and the Subsidiaries and Parent’s Board of Directors (the “ Board ”) are in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and all applicable Exchange Rules in all material respects. Parent maintains a system of “internal controls over financial reporting” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) (collectively, “ Internal Controls ”) that comply with the Exchange Act and are sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. General Accepted Accounting Principles and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences, and (v) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and is prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto. The Internal Controls are overseen by the Audit Committee (the “ Audit Committee ”) of the Board in accordance with Exchange Rules. Parent has not publicly disclosed or reported to the Audit Committee or the Board, and within the next 90 days Parent does not reasonably expect to publicly disclose or report to the Audit Committee or the Board, a significant deficiency, material weakness, change in Internal Controls or fraud involving management or other employees who have a significant role in Internal Controls (each, an “ Internal Control Event ”), any violation of, or failure to comply with, the Securities Laws, or any matter which, if determined adversely, would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(x) Disclosure Controls. Except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, Parent, the Company and the Subsidiaries maintain an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act) that is designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by Parent in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to Parent’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Parent, the Company and the Subsidiaries have carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of their disclosure controls and procedures as required by Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act.

(y) Litigation . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there are no pending actions, suits or proceedings (including any inquiries or investigations by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign) against or affecting the Company, Parent, any of the Subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, or any of their respective properties that, if determined adversely to the Company, Parent, any of the Subsidiaries, or Dearborn, would individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, or would materially and adversely affect the ability of the Company or Parent to perform their respective obligations under the Indenture or this Agreement, or which are otherwise material in the context of the sale of the Offered Securities and the sale of the Guarantees; and to the Company’s or Parent’s knowledge, no such actions, suits or proceedings (including any inquiries or investigations by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign) are threatened or contemplated.

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(z) Financial Statements . The financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus present fairly the financial position of Parent and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the dates shown and their results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown, and, except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis. The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

(aa) Dearborn Financial Statements . To the best knowledge of the Company, the financial statements of Dearborn and its subsidiaries, together with the related notes, included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus present fairly the financial position of Dearborn and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the dates shown and their results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown and, except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis. To the best knowledge of the Company, the financial statements of Mountain State Carbon, LLC (“MSC”), together with the related notes, included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus present fairly the financial position of MSC as of the dates shown and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown and, except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States applied on a consistent basis.

(bb) Pro Forma Financial Statements . The pro forma financial information and the related notes thereto included under the captions “Summary—Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Financial Information,” “Capitalization,” “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements,” and elsewhere in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, and to the best knowledge of the Company, with respect to the pro forma financial information and the related notes thereto derived from the Dearborn Financial Statements, present fairly in all material respects the information contained therein, have been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines with respect to pro forma financial statements, and the assumptions used in the preparation thereof are reasonable and the adjustments used therein are appropriate to give effect to the transactions and circumstances referred to therein.

(cc) No Material Adverse Change in Business . Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, since the end of the period covered by the latest audited financial statements included in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus (i) there has been no change, in the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, Parent, the Subsidiaries, or, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, taken as a whole that is material and adverse, (ii) except as disclosed in or contemplated by the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by Parent on any class of its capital stock and (iii) except as disclosed in or contemplated by the General Disclosure Package, there has been no material adverse change in the capital stock, short-term indebtedness, long-term indebtedness, net current assets or net assets of Parent.

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(dd) Investment Company Act . None of the Companies is, and immediately after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Offered Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, none will be an “investment company” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “ Investment Company Act ”).

(ee) Ratings . No “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act (i) has imposed (or has informed the Company that it is considering imposing) any condition (financial or otherwise) on the Company’s retaining any rating assigned to the Company or any securities of the Company or Parent or (ii) has indicated to the Company or Parent that it is considering any of the actions described in Section 7(c)(ii) hereof.

(ff)  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. None of the Company, Parent or, to the best of the Company’s and Parent’s knowledge, any of the Subsidiaries, Dearborn, or their respective directors, officers, agents, employees or affiliates is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the FCPA, including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA and the Company, Parent and, to the best of the Company’s and Parent’s knowledge, the Subsidiaries and affiliates and Dearborn have conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA and have devised or instituted and enforce policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith. In addition, none of the Company, Parent or, to the best of the Company’s and Parent’s knowledge, any of the Subsidiaries, Dearborn or their respective directors, officers, agents, employees or affiliates is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the U.K. Bribery Act 2010.

(gg)  Compliance with Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company, Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company and Parent, Dearborn, are and have been conducted at all times in compliance in all material respects with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency, and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company, the Parent or any of its subsidiaries with respect to such statutes, rules, regulations and guidelines is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company and the Parent, threatened.

(hh)  No Conflicts with Sanctions Laws . Neither the Company, the Parent, their subsidiaries, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, or any of their respective directors, officers or employees, nor, to the knowledge of the Company and the Parent, any agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company, the Parent, any of their subsidiaries or Dearborn is currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. government (including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“ OFAC ”) or the U.S. Department of State and including, without limitation, the designation as a “specially designated national” or “blocked person”), the United Nations Security Council (“ UNSC ”), the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury (“ HMT ”) or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “ Sanctions ”), nor is the Company, the Parent, any of their subsidiaries or to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or target of Sanctions, including, without limitation, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria (each, a “ Sanctioned Country ”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Offered Securities hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to the Parent, any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or

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business with any person that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject or target of Sanctions, (ii) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business in any Sanctioned Country or (iii) in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions. For the past five years, the Company and its subsidiaries, and to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have not knowingly engaged in and are not now knowingly engaged in any dealings or transactions with any person that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject or the target of Sanctions or with any Sanctioned Country.

(ii)  Taxes. The Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have filed all federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax returns that are required to be filed or have requested extensions thereof (except in any case in which the failure so to file would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect); and, except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, have paid all taxes (including any assessments, fines or penalties) required to be paid by them, except for any such taxes, assessments, fines or penalties currently being contested in good faith or as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

(jj)  Insurance . The Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, are insured by insurers with appropriately rated claims paying abilities against such losses and risks and in such amounts as are prudent and customary for the businesses in which they are engaged; all policies of insurance insuring the Company, Parent, any of the Subsidiaries or Dearborn or their respective businesses, assets, employees, officers and directors are in full force and effect; the Company, the Parent, the Subsidiaries and, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, are in compliance with the terms of such policies and instruments in all material respects; and there are no claims by the Company, Parent or any of the Subsidiaries or, to the best knowledge of the Company, by Dearborn, under any such policy or instrument as to which any insurance company is denying liability or defending under a reservation of rights clause; none of the Company, Parent, any such Subsidiary, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, has been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for; and none of the Company, Parent, any such Subsidiary, nor, to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, has any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business at a cost that would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, except as set forth in or contemplated in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus.

3. Purchase, Sale and Delivery of Offered Securities . On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements and subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Company agrees to sell to the several Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of 97.575% of the principal amount, the respective principal amounts of Offered Securities set forth opposite the names of the Underwriters in Schedule A hereto.

The Company will deliver the Offered Securities to or as instructed by the Representatives for the accounts of the several Underwriters in a form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives against payment of the purchase price by the Underwriters in Federal (same day) funds by wire transfer to an account at a bank acceptable to the Representatives drawn to the order of the Company at the office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, 450 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10017, at 9:00 A.M., New York time, on September 16, 2014, or at such other time not later than seven full business days thereafter as the Representatives and the Company determine, such time being herein referred to as the “ Closing Date ”. For purposes of Rule 15c6-1 under the Exchange Act, the Closing Date (if later than the otherwise applicable settlement date) shall be the settlement date for payment of funds and delivery of securities for all the Offered Securities sold pursuant to the offering. The Offered Securities so to be delivered or evidence of their issuance will be made available for checking at the above office of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP at least 24 hours prior to the Closing Date.

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4. Offering by Underwriters . It is understood that the several Underwriters propose to offer the Offered Securities for sale to the public as set forth in the Final Prospectus.

5. Certain Agreements of the Company and the Guarantors . The Company and the Guarantors jointly and severally agree with the several Underwriters that:

(a) Filing of Prospectuses. The Company has filed or will file each Statutory Prospectus (including the Final Prospectus) pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 424(b)(2) of the Act (or, if applicable and consented to by the Representatives, subparagraph (5)) not later than the second business day following the earlier of the date it is first used or the execution and delivery of this Agreement. The Company has complied and will comply with Rule 433 of the Act.

(b) Filing of Amendments; Response to Commission Requests . The Company will promptly advise the Representatives of any proposal to amend or supplement the Registration Statement or any Statutory Prospectus at any time and will offer the Representatives a reasonable opportunity to comment on any such amendment or supplement; and the Company will also advise the Representatives promptly of (i) the filing of any such amendment or supplement, (ii) any request by the Commission or its staff for any amendment to the Registration Statement, for any supplement to any Statutory Prospectus or for any additional information, (iii) the institution by the Commission of any stop order proceedings in respect of the Registration Statement or the threatening of any proceeding for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act, and (iv) the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Offered Securities or the Guarantees in any jurisdiction or the institution or threatening of any proceedings for such purpose. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order or the suspension of any such qualification and, if issued, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal thereof.

(c) Continued Compliance with Securities Laws . (i) If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Offered Securities or the Guarantee is (or but for the exemption in Rule 172 would be) required to be delivered under the Act by any Underwriter or dealer, any event occurs as a result of which the Final Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or if it is necessary at any time to amend the Registration Statement or supplement the Final Prospectus to comply with the Act, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives of such event and will promptly prepare and file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and the dealers and any other dealers upon request of the Representatives, an amendment or supplement which will correct such statement or omission or an amendment which will effect such compliance; and (ii) if at any time prior to the filing of the Final Prospectus, any event occurs as a result of which the General Disclosure Package as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or if it is necessary at any time to amend the General Disclosure Package to comply with law, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives of such event and will promptly prepare and file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and the dealers and any other dealers upon request of the Representatives, a supplement which will correct such statement or omission or an amendment which will effect such compliance. Neither the Representatives’ consent to, nor the Underwriters’ delivery of, any such amendment or supplement shall constitute a waiver of any of the conditions set forth in Section 7 hereof.

(d) Rule 158. As soon as practicable, but not later than 16 months, after the date of this Agreement, Parent will make generally available to its securityholders an earnings statement covering a period of at least 12 months beginning after the date of this Agreement and satisfying the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Act and Rule 158.

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(e) Furnishing of Prospectuses . The Company will furnish to the Representatives copies of the Registration Statement, including all exhibits, any Statutory Prospectus, the Final Prospectus and all amendments and supplements to such documents, in each case as soon as available and in such quantities as the Representatives reasonably request. The Company will pay the expenses of printing and distributing to the Underwriters all such documents.

(f) Blue Sky Compliance . The Company will qualify the Offered Securities for offer and sale under the laws of such U.S. jurisdictions as the Representatives shall reasonably request and will continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for distribution of the Securities; provided that the Company shall not be required to (i) qualify as a foreign corporation or other entity or as a dealer in securities in any such jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to so qualify, (ii) file any general consent to service of process in any such jurisdiction or (iii) subject itself to taxation in any such jurisdiction if it is not otherwise so subject.

(g) Reporting Requirements . Parent, during the period when the Final Prospectus is required to be delivered under the Act, will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act within the time periods required by the Exchange Act.

(h) Payment of Expenses . The Company will pay all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including but not limited to (i) any filing fees and other expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters) incurred in connection with qualification of the Offered Securities and the Guarantee for sale under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives designate and the preparation and printing of memoranda relating thereto, (ii) the filing fees for FINRA’s review of the offering of the Offered Securities, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters in connection with compliance with FINRA’s rules and regulations, (iii) any fees charged by investment rating agencies for the rating of the Offered Securities, costs and expenses relating to investor presentations or any “road show” in connection with the offering and sale of the Offered Securities, (iv) any travel expenses of the Company’s or Parent’s officers and employees and any other expenses of the Company or any Guarantor including the chartering of airplanes, (v) fees and expenses in connection with the registration of the Offered Securities under the Exchange Act, (vi) expenses incurred in distributing preliminary prospectuses and the Final Prospectus (including any amendments and supplements thereto) to the Underwriters and for expenses incurred for preparing, printing and distributing any Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses to investors or prospective investors. It is understood, however, that, except as provided in subclauses (i) and (ii) of this clause (h), and Sections 8 and 10 hereof, the Underwriters will pay all of their own costs and expenses, including the fees of their counsel, transfer taxes on resale of any of the Securities and the Guarantee by them, and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.

(i) Use of Proceeds . The Company will use the net proceeds received in connection with this offering in the manner described in the “Use of Proceeds” section of the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus and, except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, the Company does not intend to use any of the proceeds from the sale of the Offered Securities hereunder to repay any outstanding debt owed to any affiliate of any Underwriter.

(j) Absence of Manipulation . Neither the Company nor any Guarantor will take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any securities of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Offered Securities.

(k) Restriction on Sale of Securities. Neither the Company nor any Guarantor will offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with the Commission a registration statement under the Act relating to United States dollar-denominated debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Company or any Guarantor and having a maturity of more than one

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year from the date of issue, or publicly disclose the intention to make any such offer, sale, pledge, disposition or filing, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, for a period beginning on the date hereof and ending 30 days after the Closing Date.

6. Free Writing Prospectuses . (a)  Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses . The Company and the Guarantors jointly and severally represent and agree that, unless the Company obtains the prior consent of the Representatives, and each Underwriter represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Company and the Representatives, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Offered Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405, required to be filed with the Commission. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Company and the Representatives is hereinafter referred to as a “ Permitted Free Writing Prospectus .” The Company and the Guarantors jointly and severally represent that they have treated and agree that they will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and have complied and will comply with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely Commission filing where required, legending and record keeping.

(b)  Term Sheets . The Company will prepare a final term sheet relating to the Offered Securities, containing only information that describes the final terms of the Offered Securities and otherwise in a form consented to by the Representatives, and will file such final term sheet within the period required by Rule 433(d)(5)(ii) following the date such final terms have been established for the offering of the Offered Securities. Any such final term sheet is an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and a Permitted Free Writing Prospectus for purposes of this Agreement. The Company and the Representatives also consent to the use by any Underwriter of a free writing prospectus that contains only (i)(x) information describing the preliminary terms of the Offered Securities or their offering or (y) information that describes the final terms of the Offered Securities or their offering and that is included in the final term sheet of the Company contemplated in the first sentence of this subsection or (ii) other information that is not “issuer information,” as defined in Rule 433, it being understood that any such free writing prospectus referred to in clause (i) or (ii) above shall not be an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus for purposes of this Agreement.

7. Conditions of the Obligations of the Underwriters . The obligations of the several Underwriters to purchase and pay for the Offered Securities on the Closing Date will be subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company and the Guarantors herein (on the date hereof and as though made on the Closing Date), to the accuracy of the statements of the Company’s and the Guarantors’ officers made pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company and the Guarantors of their respective obligations hereunder and to the following additional conditions precedent:

(a)  Accountants’ Comfort Letter . The Representatives shall have received letters, dated, respectively, the date hereof and the Closing Date, of Ernst & Young LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP and, with respect to Dearborn, KPMG LLP, confirming that they are registered public accounting firms and independent public accountants within the meaning of the Securities Laws and substantially in the form agreed to with the Representatives (except that, in the letter dated the Closing Date, the specified date referred to in the letter shall be a date no more than three days prior to such Closing Date).

(b)  Filing of Prospectus. The Final Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission in accordance with the Rules and Regulations and Section 5(a) hereof. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any part thereof shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose or pursuant to Section 8A of the Act shall have been instituted or, to the knowledge of the Company, Guarantors or any Underwriter, shall be contemplated by the Commission.

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(c)  No Material Adverse Change . Subsequent to the Applicable Time, there shall not have occurred (i) any change in the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, Parent, the Subsidiaries and Dearborn taken as a whole which, in the judgment of the Representatives, is material and adverse and makes it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Offered Securities; (ii) any downgrading in the rating of any debt securities of the Company or any Guarantor by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined in Section 3(a)(62) under the Exchange Act), or any public announcement that any such organization has under surveillance or review its rating of any debt securities of the Company or any Guarantor (other than an announcement with positive implications of a possible upgrading, and no implication of a possible downgrading, of such rating); (iii) any change in U.S. or international financial, political or economic conditions or currency exchange rates or exchange controls the effect of which is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impractical to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of or to enforce contracts for the sale of the Offered Securities, whether in the primary market or in respect of dealings in the secondary market; (iv) any suspension or material limitation of trading in securities generally on the New York Stock Exchange, or any setting of minimum or maximum prices for trading on such exchange; (v) or any suspension of trading of any securities of the Company or any Guarantor on any exchange or in the over-the-counter market; (vi) any banking moratorium declared by any U.S. federal or New York authorities; (vii) any major disruption of settlements of securities, payment, or clearance services in the United States or any other country where such securities are listed or (viii) any attack on, outbreak or escalation of hostilities or act of terrorism involving the United States, any declaration of war by the U.S. Congress or any other national or international calamity or emergency if, in the judgment of the Representatives, the effect of any such attack, outbreak, escalation, act, declaration, calamity or emergency is such as to make it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the offering, sale or delivery of the Offered Securities or to enforce contracts for the sale of the Offered Securities.

(d)  Opinions of Counsel for Company and the Guarantors . The Representatives shall have received an opinion, dated the Closing Date, of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, counsel for the Company and the Guarantors, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A.

(e) Opinion of Counsel for Underwriters. The Representatives shall have received from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, such opinion or opinions, dated the Closing Date, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon such matters.

(f)  Officers’ Certificate . The Representatives shall have received a certificate, dated the Closing Date, of an executive officer of the Company and the Guarantors and a principal financial or accounting officer of the Company and the Guarantors in which such officers shall state that: the representations and warranties of the Company and the Guarantors in this Agreement are true and correct; the Company and the Guarantors have complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on their parts to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to the Closing Date; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or, to the best of their knowledge and after reasonable investigation, are contemplated by the Commission; and, subsequent to the dates of the most recent financial statements in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus, there has been no material adverse change in the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, properties or prospects of the Company, Parent, the Subsidiaries, and to the best knowledge of the Company, Dearborn, taken as a whole except as set forth in the General Disclosure Package and the Final Prospectus or as described in such certificate.

(g) Consummation of the Common Stock Offering. The Common Stock Offering shall be consummated concurrently with the issue and sale of the Offered Securities pursuant to this Agreement.

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(h) Consummation of the Dearborn Acquisition . The Dearborn Acquisition shall be consummated concurrently with the issue and sale of the Offered Securities pursuant to this Agreement.

The Company and the Guarantors will furnish the Representatives with such conformed copies of such opinions, certificates, letters and documents as the Representatives reasonably request. The Representatives may waive on behalf of the Underwriters compliance with any conditions to the obligations of the Underwriters hereunder.

8. Indemnification and Contribution . (a)  Indemnification of Underwriters . The Company and the Guarantors will jointly and severally indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its partners, members, directors, officers, employees, agents, affiliates and each person, if any, who controls such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (each, an “ Indemnified Party ”), against any and all losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which such Indemnified Party may become subject, under the Act, the Exchange Act, other Federal or state statutory law or regulation or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of the Registration Statement at any time, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of any Statutory Prospectus as of any time, the Final Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in each case in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and will reimburse each Indemnified Party for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Indemnified Party in connection with investigating or defending against any loss, claim, damage, liability, action, litigation, investigation or proceeding whatsoever (whether or not such Indemnified Party is a party thereto), whether threatened or commenced, and in connection with the enforcement of this provision with respect to any of the above as such expenses are incurred; provided, however, that the Company and the Guarantors will not be liable in any such case to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage or liability arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement in or omission or alleged omission from any of such documents in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the information described as such in subsection (b) below.

(b) Indemnification of Company and the Guarantors . Each Underwriter will severally and not jointly indemnify and hold harmless the Company, the Guarantors, each of their respective directors, each of their respective officers who signs a Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company or any Guarantor within the meaning of Section 15 of the Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (each, an “ Underwriter Indemnified Party ”), against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which such Underwriter Indemnified Party may become subject, under the Act, the Exchange Act, other Federal or state statutory law or regulation or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon (i) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of the Registration Statement at any time, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or (ii) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any part of any Statutory Prospectus as of any time, the Final Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission of a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in each case in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through the Representatives specifically for use therein, and will reimburse any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such Underwriter Indemnified Party in connection with investigating or defending against any such loss, claim, damage, liability, action, litigation, investigation or proceeding whatsoever (whether or not such Underwriter Indemnified Party is a party thereto), whether threatened or commenced,

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based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission as such expenses are incurred, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Final Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the information contained in the fifth paragraph under the caption “Underwriting” relating to market making activities and the information contained in the tenth and eleventh paragraphs under the caption “Underwriting” relating to stabilizing transactions.

(c) Actions against Parties; Notification . Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 8, notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof; but the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have under subsection (a) or (b) above except to the extent that it has been materially prejudiced (through the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses) by such failure; and provided further that the failure to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to an indemnified party otherwise than under subsection (a) or (b) above. In case any such action is brought against any indemnified party and it notifies the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate therein and, to the extent that it may wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party (who shall not, except with the consent of the indemnified party, be counsel to the indemnifying party), and after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party will not be liable to such indemnified party under this Section for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened action in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party unless such settlement (i) includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on any claims that are the subject matter of such action and (ii) does not include a statement as to, or an admission of, fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of an indemnified party.

(d) Contribution . If the indemnification provided for in this Section is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to herein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to herein (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company and the Guarantors on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other from the offering of the Offered Securities or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company and the Guarantors on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company and the Guarantors on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company and the Guarantors bear to the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company and the Guarantors or the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The amount paid by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to in the first sentence of this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any action or claim which is the subject of this subsection (d). Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages which such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within

17

the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations in this subsection (d) to contribute are several in proportion to their respective underwriting obligations and not joint. The Company, each Guarantor and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 8(d) were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this Section 8(d).

9. Default of Underwriters . If any Underwriter or Underwriters default in their obligations to purchase Offered Securities hereunder on the Closing Date and the aggregate principal amount of Offered Securities that such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase does not exceed 10% of the total principal amount of Offered Securities that the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on the Closing Date, the Representatives may make arrangements satisfactory to the Company for the purchase of such Offered Securities by other persons, including any of the Underwriters, but if no such arrangements are made by the Closing Date, the non-defaulting Underwriters shall be obligated severally, in proportion to their respective commitments hereunder, to purchase the Offered Securities that such defaulting Underwriters agreed but failed to purchase on the Closing Date. If any Underwriter or Underwriters so default and the aggregate principal amount of Offered Securities with respect to which such default or defaults occur exceeds 10% of the total principal amount of Offered Securities that the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on the Closing Date and arrangements satisfactory to the Representatives and the Company for the purchase of such Offered Securities by other persons are not made within 36 hours after such default, this Agreement will terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company, except as provided in Section 10. As used in this Agreement, the term “Underwriter” includes any person substituted for an Underwriter under this Section. Nothing herein will relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default.

10. Survival of Certain Representations and Obligations . The respective indemnities, agreements, representations, warranties and other statements of the Company, the Guarantors or any of their respective officers and of the several Underwriters set forth in or made pursuant to this Agreement will remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation, or statement as to the results thereof, made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, the Company, the Guarantors or any of their respective representatives, officers or directors or any controlling person, and will survive delivery of and payment for the Offered Securities. If the purchase of the Offered Securities by the Underwriters is not consummated for any reason other than solely because of the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Section 9 hereof, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters for all out-of-pocket expenses (including fees and disbursements of counsel) reasonably incurred by them in connection with the offering of the Offered Securities, and the respective obligations of the Company, the Guarantors and the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8 hereof shall remain in effect. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Agreement is terminated pursuant to Section 9 hereof, the respective obligations of the Company, the Guarantors and the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8 hereof shall remain in effect. In addition, if any Offered Securities have been purchased hereunder, the representations and warranties in Section 2 and all obligations under Section 5 shall also remain in effect.

11. Notices . All communications hereunder will be in writing and, if sent to the Underwriters, will be mailed, delivered or telegraphed and confirmed to the Representatives, c/o Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010-3629, Attention: LCD-IBD, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10179 and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., 388 Greenwich Street, New York, N.Y. 10013, Attention: General Counsel or, if sent to the Company or any Guarantor, will be mailed, delivered or telegraphed and confirmed to it at AK Steel Corporation, 9227 Centre Pointe Drive, West Chester, OH 45069, Attention: General Counsel; provided, however, that any notice to an Underwriter pursuant to Section 8 will be mailed, delivered or telegraphed and confirmed to such Underwriter.

In accordance with the requirements of the USA Patriot Act (Title III of Pub. L. 107-56 (signed into law October 26, 2001)), the Underwriters are required to obtain, verify and record information that identifies their respective clients, including the Company, which information may include the name and address of their respective clients, as well as other information that will allow the Underwriters to properly identify their respective clients.

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12. Successors . This Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and the officers and directors and controlling persons referred to in Section 8, and no other person will have any right or obligation hereunder.

13. Representation of Underwriters . The Representatives will act for the several Underwriters in connection with this financing, and any action under this Agreement taken by the Representatives jointly or individually will be binding upon all the Underwriters.

14. Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute one and the same Agreement.

15. Absence of Fiduciary Relationship. The Company and Parent acknowledge and agree that:

(a) No Other Relationship . The Underwriters have been retained solely to act as underwriters in connection with the sale of Offered Securities and that no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company and the Guarantors, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, has been created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement or the Final Prospectus, irrespective of whether the Underwriters have advised or is advising the Company or the Guarantors on other matters;

(b) Arms’ Length Negotiations . The price of the Offered Securities set forth in this Agreement was established by the Company following discussions and arms-length negotiations with the Underwriters, and the Company and the Guarantors are capable of evaluating and understanding and understand and accept the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;

(c) Absence of Obligation to Disclose . The Company and the Guarantors have been advised that the Underwriters and their affiliates are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and the Guarantors and that the Underwriters have no obligation to disclose such interests and transactions to the Company or the Guarantors by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship; and

(d) Waiver . The Company and the Guarantors waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims they may have against the Underwriters for breach of fiduciary duty or alleged breach of fiduciary duty and agree that the Underwriters shall have no liability (whether direct or indirect) to the Company or the Guarantors in respect of such a fiduciary duty claim or to any person asserting a fiduciary duty claim on behalf of or in right of the Company or the Guarantors, including stockholders, employees or creditors of the Company or the Guarantors.

16. Applicable Law . This Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

The Company and the Guarantors hereby submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal and state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. The Company and the Guarantors irrevocably and unconditionally waive any objection to the laying of venue of any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby in Federal and state courts in the Borough of Manhattan in The City of New York and irrevocably and unconditionally waive and agree not to plead or claim in any such court that any such suit or proceeding in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

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If the foregoing is in accordance with the Representatives’ understanding of our agreement, kindly sign and return to the Company one of the counterparts hereof, whereupon it will become a binding agreement between the Company, each Guarantor and the several Underwriters in accordance with its terms.

[Signature page to Underwriting Agreement]

The foregoing Underwriting Agreement is hereby confirmed and accepted as of the date first above written.

C REDIT S UISSE S ECURITIES (USA) LLC,

C ITIGROUP G LOBAL M ARKETS I NC .

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC,

Acting on behalf of themselves and as the Representatives of the several Underwriters

By C REDIT S UISSE S ECURITIES (USA) LLC

By C ITIGROUP G LOBAL M ARKETS I NC .

By J.P. M ORGAN S ECURITIES LLC

[Signature page to Underwriting Agreement]

A-1

SCHEDULE B

“General Use Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” includes each of the following documents:

1. Final Term Sheet, dated September 11, 2014, a copy of which is attached hereto.

The following information is also included in the General Disclosure Package:

None

B-1

AK Steel Corporation (“AK Steel”)

Pricing Term Sheet

$430,000,000 7.625% Notes due 2021

AK Steel Corporation and AK Steel Holding Corporation have filed a registration statement (including a base prospectus) and AK Steel Corporation and the Guarantors have filed a prospectus supplement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus supplement for this offering, the prospectus in that registration statement and any other documents filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by searching the SEC online database (EDGAR) on the SEC web site at http://www.sec.gov. Alternatively, AK Steel Corporation, AK Steel Holding Corporation, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus supplement and prospectus if you request it by calling Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC toll-free at 1-800-221-1037, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC toll-free at 1-800-245- 8812 or Citigroup Global Markets Inc. toll-free at 1-877-858-5407.

This pricing term sheet supplements the preliminary form of prospectus supplement issued by AK Steel Corporation and the Guarantors on September 8, 2014 relating to the prospectus dated September 8, 2014.

Any disclaimer or other notice that may appear below is not applicable to this communication and should be disregarded. Such disclaimer or notice was automatically generated as a result of this communication being sent by Bloomberg or another email system.

EXHIBIT A

Form of Opinion from Weil Gotshal & Manges

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC,

Eleven Madison Avenue,

New York, N.Y. 10010-3629

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

388 Greenwich Street

New York, N.Y. 10013, and

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10179

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

One Bryant Park

New York, N.Y. 10036

Fifth Third Securities, Inc.

38 Fountain Square Plaza

MD10903B

Cincinnati, Ohio 45263

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

200 West Street

New York, New York 10282

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have acted as counsel to AK Steel Corporation (the “ Company ”), AK Steel Holding Corporation (“ Parent ”), AK Tube LLC (“ AK Tube ”) and AK Steel Properties, Inc. (“ AK Steel Properties ” and together with the Company, Parent and AK Tube, the “ Companies ”) in connection with the preparation, authorization, execution and delivery of, and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by, the Underwriting Agreement, dated September 11, 2014 (the “ Agreement ”), by and among the Company, the guarantors party thereto and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as representatives of the underwriters named therein, relating to the issuance by the Company of $430,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 7.625% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “ Notes ”). The Notes are being issued pursuant to a base indenture, dated as of May 11, 2010 (the “ Base Indenture ”), among the Companies and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (the “ Trustee ”), as supplemented by the Fifth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of September 16, 2014 (the “ Supplemental Indenture ” and together with the Base Indenture, the “ Indenture ”) among the Companies and the Trustee. The Company’s

obligations under the Indenture and the Notes are guaranteed by each of Parent, AK Tube and AK Steel Properties (the “ Guarantors ”), and such guarantees (the “ Guarantees ”) are set forth in the Indenture. This opinion is being rendered to you pursuant to Section 7(d) of the Agreement. Capitalized terms defined in the Agreement and used (but not otherwise defined) herein are used herein as so defined.

In so acting, we have examined originals or copies (certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction) of (i) the Agreement; (ii) the Indenture; (iii) executed copies of global certificates representing the Notes; (iv) the Guarantees; (v) the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-194078), filed on February 21, 2014 (as amended by Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 filed on September 8, 2014, the “ Registration Statement ”); (vi) the Prospectus, dated September 8, 2014, which forms a part of the Registration Statement (the “ Base Prospectus ”); (vii) the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, dated September 8, 2014 (the “ Preliminary Prospectus Supplement ”); (viii) the Prospectus Supplement, dated September 11, 2014 (the “ Prospectus Supplement ”); (ix) the Pricing Disclosure Package (as defined below); (x) the certificate of incorporation or certificate of formation, as applicable, of each of the Companies; (xi) the by-laws or limited liability company agreement, as applicable, of each of the Companies; and (xii) such corporate records, agreements, documents and other instruments, and such certificates or comparable documents of public officials and of officers and representatives of the Companies, and have made such inquiries of such officers and representatives, as we have deemed relevant and necessary as a basis for the opinions hereinafter set forth. We refer to the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, and taken together with the term sheet and other documents listed on Schedule A hereto, as the “ Pricing Disclosure Package .” We refer to the Base Prospectus as supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement as the “ Prospectus .”

In such examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as certified, conformed or photostatic copies and the authenticity of the originals of such latter documents. As to all questions of fact material to these opinions that have not been independently established, we have relied upon certificates or comparable documents of officers and representatives of the Companies and upon the representations and warranties of the Companies contained in the Agreement. As used herein, “to our knowledge,” “of which we are aware” and “we are not aware” mean the conscious awareness of facts or other information by any lawyer in our firm actively involved in the transactions contemplated by the Agreement, after consultation with such other lawyers in our firm as each such actively involved lawyer has deemed appropriate.

Based on the foregoing, and subject to the qualifications stated herein, we are of the opinion that:

Each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties is a corporation validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware and each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties has all requisite corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted. AK Tube is a limited liability company validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware and has all requisite limited liability company power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted.

Each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver the Agreement and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Agreement by each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties has been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties. AK Tube has all requisite limited liability company power and authority to execute and deliver the Agreement and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Agreement by AK Tube has been duly authorized by all necessary limited liability company action on the part of AK Tube. The Agreement has been duly and validly executed and delivered by each of the Companies.

Each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver the Indenture and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Indenture by each of the Company, Parent and AK Steel Properties has been duly authorized by all necessary

corporate action on its part. AK Tube has all requisite limited liability company power and authority to execute and deliver the Indenture and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Indenture by AK Tube has been duly authorized by all necessary limited liability company action on its part. The Indenture has been duly and validly executed and delivered by the Companies and (assuming the due authorization, execution and delivery thereof by the Trustee) constitutes the legal, valid and binding obligation of each of the Companies, enforceable against each of them in accordance with its terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws affecting creditors’ rights and remedies generally, and subject, as to enforceability, to general principles of equity, including principles of commercial reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding at law or in equity). The Indenture has been duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended.

The Company has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver the Notes and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Notes by the Company have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of the Company. The Notes have been duly and validly executed and when delivered to and paid for by the Underwriters in accordance with the terms of the Agreement (assuming the due authentication thereof by the Trustee) will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against it in accordance with their terms and will be entitled to the benefits of the Indenture, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws affecting creditors’ rights and remedies generally, and subject, as to enforceability, to general principles of equity, including principles of commercial reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding at law or in equity).

Each of Parent and AK Steel Properties has all requisite corporate power and authority to execute and deliver its respective Guarantee and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Guarantees by Parent and AK Steel Properties have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action on the part of Parent and AK Steel Properties. AK Tube has all requisite limited liability company power and authority to execute and deliver the Guarantee and to perform its obligations thereunder. The execution, delivery and performance of the Guarantee by AK Tube has been duly authorized by all necessary limited liability company action on the part of AK Tube. The Guarantees have been duly and validly executed and delivered by each of the Guarantors, and, when the Notes have been duly authenticated by the Trustee in accordance with the Indenture and delivered to and paid for by the Underwriters in accordance with the terms of the Agreement, will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligation of each of the Guarantors, enforceable against the Guarantors in accordance with its terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws affecting creditors’ rights and remedies generally, and subject, as to enforceability, to general principles of equity, including principles of commercial reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding at law or in equity).

The execution and delivery by each of the Companies of the Agreement, the Indenture, the Notes and the Guarantees, as applicable, and the performance by each of the Companies of its respective obligations thereunder will not conflict with, constitute a breach of or default under or violate (i) any of the terms, conditions or provisions of its certificate of incorporation or certificate of formation, as applicable, or by-laws or limited liability company agreement, as applicable; (ii) any of the terms, conditions or provisions of any document, agreement or other instrument listed on Schedule B hereto; (iii) Delaware corporate, New York or federal law (other than federal and state securities or blue sky laws, as to which we express no opinion in this paragraph); or (iv) any judgment, writ, injunction, decree, order or ruling of any court or governmental authority binding on it of which we are aware.

No consent, approval, waiver, license or authorization or other action by or filing with any Delaware corporate, New York or federal governmental authority is required in connection with the execution and delivery by the Companies of the Agreement, the Indenture and the Guarantees, the consummation by the Companies of the transactions contemplated thereby or the performance by the Companies of their respective obligations thereunder, except for federal and state securities or blue sky laws, as to which we express no opinion in this paragraph, those already obtained.

To our knowledge, there are no legal or governmental proceedings pending or overtly threatened to which Parent or any of its subsidiaries is a party or to which any of the properties of Parent or any of its subsidiaries is subject that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the documents incorporated by reference therein and are not so described.

The statements (A) in the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package under the captions “Description of Notes” and “Description of Certain Indebtedness” and (B) in the Registration Statement in response to the requirements of Item 9 of Form S-3, in each case insofar as such statements constitute summaries of the legal matters, documents or proceedings referred to therein, fairly present the information called for with respect to such legal matters, documents and proceedings and fairly summarize the matters referred to therein in all material respects.

The statements in the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package under the caption “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences for Non-U.S. Holders,” insofar as they constitute statements of United States federal income tax law or legal conclusions with respect thereto, and subject to the limitations set forth therein, fairly summarize the matters referred to therein in all material respects.

None of Companies is, and immediately after giving effect to the sale of the Notes and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Prospectus and the Pricing Disclosure Package none will be, an “investment company” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

The Registration Statement has become effective under the Securities Act and, based solely on a telephone confirmation by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), we are not aware of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any notice objecting to its use. To our knowledge, no proceedings therefor have been initiated or overtly threatened by the Commission and any required filing of the Prospectus and any supplement thereto pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act has been made in the manner and within the time period required by such Rule.

The opinions expressed herein are limited to the laws of the State of New York, the corporate laws of the State of Delaware and the federal laws of the United States, and we express no opinion as to the effect on the matters covered by this letter of the laws of any other jurisdiction.

The opinions expressed herein are rendered solely for your benefit in connection with the transactions described herein. Those opinions may not be used or relied upon by any other person, nor may this letter or any copies hereof be furnished to a third party, filed with a governmental agency, quoted, cited or otherwise referred to without our prior written consent.

Very truly yours,

Schedule A

1. Final Term Sheet, dated September 11, 2014

Schedule B

Form of 10b-5 Letter from Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC,

Eleven Madison Avenue,

New York, N.Y. 10010-3629

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

388 Greenwich Street

New York, N.Y. 10013, and

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

383 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10179

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

One Bryant Park

New York, N.Y. 10036

Fifth Third Securities, Inc.

38 Fountain Square Plaza

MD10903B

Cincinnati, Ohio 45263

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

200 West Street

New York, New York 10282

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Reference is made to (i) the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-194078), filed by AK Steel Holding Corporation (“ AK Holding ”) and AK Steel Corporation (the “ Company ” and together with AK Holding, the “ Companies ”) on February 21, 2014 (as amended by Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 filed on September 8, 2014, the “ Registration Statement ”), (ii) the Prospectus, dated as of February 21, 2014 (the “ Base Prospectus ”), which forms a part of the Registration Statement, (iii) the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, dated September 8, 2014 (the “ Preliminary Prospectus Supplement ”) and (iv) the Prospectus Supplement, dated September 11, 2014 (the “ Prospectus Supplement ”), in each case relating to the 7.625% Senior Notes due 2021 (the “ Securities ”) of the Company, as to which we have acted as counsel to the Companies, AK Tube LLC and AK Steel Properties, Inc. We refer to the Base Prospectus, as supplemented by the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, and taken together with the term sheet and other documents listed on Schedule A hereto as the “ Pricing Disclosure Package .” We refer to the Base Prospectus as supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement as the “ Prospectus .” We refer to the Registration Statement, the Base Prospectus, the Preliminary Prospectus Supplement, the term sheet and other documents listed on Schedule A hereto, and the Prospectus Supplement as the “ Offering Documents .” This letter is furnished to you pursuant to Section 7(d) of the Underwriting Agreement, dated as of September 11, 2014, among the Company, the guarantors party thereto and the underwriters named therein (the “ Agreement ”). Capitalized terms defined in the Agreement and used (but not otherwise defined) herein are used herein as so defined.

The primary purpose of our professional engagement was not to establish or confirm factual matters or financial or quantitative information, and many determinations involved in the preparation of the Offering Documents are of a non-legal character. In addition, we have not undertaken any obligation to verify independently any of the factual matters set forth in the Offering Documents or in the documents incorporated by reference therein (the “ Incorporated Documents ”). Consequently, we are not passing upon and do not assume any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the statements contained or incorporated by reference in the Offering Documents (other than as stated in paragraphs 9 and 10 of our opinion of even date herewith). Also, we do not make any statement herein with respect to any of the financial statements and related notes thereto, the financial statement schedules or the financial or accounting data contained or incorporated by reference in the Offering Documents or Exhibit 25 to the Registration Statement.

We have reviewed the Offering Documents (including the Incorporated Documents) and we have participated in conferences with representatives of the Company, its independent public accountants, you and your counsel, at which conferences the contents of the Offering Documents, the Incorporated Documents and related matters were discussed. However, we did not participate in the preparation of the Incorporated Documents.

Subject to the foregoing, we confirm to you that, on the basis of the information we gained in the course of performing the services referred to above, (a) the Registration Statement (including the Incorporated Documents), as of its most recent effective date (which for purposes of this letter is understood to be the date of the Agreement), and the Prospectus (including the Incorporated Documents), as of the date of the Prospectus Supplement, appeared on their face to be appropriately responsive, in all material respects relevant to the offering of the Securities, to the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, and (b) no facts have come to our attention which cause us to believe that (i) the Registration Statement (including the Incorporated Documents), as of its most recent effective date (which for purposes of this letter is understood to be the date of the Agreement), contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, (ii) the Pricing Disclosure Package (including the Incorporated Documents), as of 7:30 AM on September 11, 2014 contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or (iii) the Prospectus (including the Incorporated Documents), as of the date of the Prospectus Supplement or as of the date hereof, contained or contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or omits to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

The statements made herein are set forth solely for your benefit and are addressed to you solely in your capacity as the underwriters of the Securities. Neither this letter nor any of such statements may be used or relied upon by, or assigned to, any other person (including any subsequent purchaser or transferee of the Securities), and neither this letter nor any copies hereof may be furnished to any other person, filed with a governmental agency, quoted, cited or otherwise referred to without our prior written consent.

Very truly yours,

Schedule A

1. Final Term Sheet, dated September 11, 2014