Ess Dee plans to buy Alcan arm

Ess Dee Aluminium, whose promoter Sudip Datta once depended on Alcan for the bulk of his income, has joined the race to acquire the packaging business of the Montreal-based giant which was recently taken over by Rio Tinto. The Mumbai-headquartered Ess Dee is the second domestic contender, the other being Essel Propack.

Bankers in the know of the development said there was a third contender as well — Australia’s Amcore. Rio Tinto, the new promoter of Alcan, has already begun talks with the three companies, they said, adding that the deal size is expected to be around $1 billion (Rs 4,000 crore), or 1.2 times the turnover of the target.

Rio Tinto, which recently acquired Alcan for $38 billion, decided to pull out of the packaging business as it does not fit into Alcan’s core area of operations and has been looking for a buyer for the past two months. Alcan makes packaging material for food and beverages, medical and pharmaceuticals as well as cosmetics and tobacco industries.

For Ess Dee, the successful acquisition of the packaging business of Alcan will give it presence in 13 countries —something which, otherwise, will take at least 10 years. Ess Dee posted net profit of Rs 37 crore and net sales of Rs 141 crore last year.It is learnt that DSP Merrill Lynch and Enam are advising Ess Dee on the acquisition.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Hindalco snaps up entire Alcan stake in Utkal

Aditya Birla Group flagship Hindalco Industries on Wednesday completed its bid to own Utkal Alumina, a joint venture it had with Alcan, when it agreed to buy out the Canadian company’s 45% equity stake in the venture for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition of Utkal Alumina would give Hindalco ownership of 195 million tonnes of high grade bauxite, that is a key raw material for making aluminium metal.

Although Hindalco officials declined to specify the amount they will spend to buy out Alcan’s stake, it has been learnt that an alumina plant of 1.5 million tonnes capacity will cost Rs 5,000 crore to build. The acquisition of Utkal Alumina also gives the Birlas complete ownership of high grade alumina which could be used to feed the group’s forthcoming aluminium projects. Once all projects are completed, the group will have ownership of about 5.2 million tonnes of alumina.

Alcan, which is at present the target of a friendly $38-billion takeover offer from British mining major Rio Tinto, had in April announced its plan to exit the joint venture. Hindalco held the remaining 55% stake and the first right of refusal for its partner’s stake.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Hindalco, Sterlite may join Alcan race

India's biggest aluminium maker, Hindalco, and Sterlite Industries, are in talks with global firms to separately bid for Canada's Alcan, said the media report on Wednesday. Citing unnamed sources, the report said Sterlite's parent Vedanta Resources Plc was in advanced talks with global miner Rio Tinto to form a special purpose vehicle to bid for the aluminium major.

London-based Vedanta will likely invest $3-$4 billion and Rio Tinto could put in $10-$12 billion in the joint venture, said the report.

Hindalco Industries Ltd, which earlier this year bought Canadian aluminium firm Novelis for $5.9 billion, was in talks with BHP Billiton for a joint bid but a deal was some distance away.

A Vedanta spokesman declined comment, while a spokeswoman for Hindalco said it was not the company's policy to comment on speculation.

Media reports earlier this week said Norwegian aluminium group Norsk Hydro and Rio Tinto might place separate bids to trump Alcoa's $28.5 billion hostile bid for Alcan, a takeover that would create the world's largest aluminium group.