Gerdau SA : Buyback Program - Gerdau S.A. (Relevant Fact)

RELEVANT FACT

We announce that the Board of Directors Meeting of GERDAU S.A. held on January 11, 2012, in accordance with its Bylaws and CVM Instructions No. 10/80 and 268/97, authorized the Company to acquire shares of its own issue.

Purpose: exclusively for the Long-term Incentive Programs for the Company and its subsidiaries, using the available cash supported by existing profit reserves; the Board of Executive Officers shall be responsible for establishing the number of shares and the time for each transaction. Number of shares to be acquired: up to 2,693,000 preferred shares, of which 1,393,000 shall be in the form of American Depositary Receipts - ADRs, representing approximately 0.31% of the preferred-share free float, which totaled 865,417,985 shares on December 31, 2011.

Acquisition period: as of January 12th, inclusive, until January 20th, 2012, at the latest.
The transactions will take place on the São Paulo and New York stock exchanges at market prices, and will be conducted by the following brokers:
- Itaú Corretora de Valores S.A.
Avenida Faria Lima, 3.400, 10º andar, Itaim Bibi, São Paulo, SP;
- Bradesco S.A. Corretora de Títulos e Valores Mobiliários
Avenida Paulista, 1450, 7°andar, Bela Vista, São Pa ulo, SP; and
- Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc
Bank of America Tower One, Bryant Park 8th Floor, New York, NY, 10036.
Rio de Janeiro, January 11, 2012. OSVALDO BURGOS SCHIRMER
Executive Vice-President
Investor Relations Director