Hindalco All Set to Acquire Aleris for $2.58 Billion

Hindalco’s wholly owned subsidiary, Novelis Inc., on Thursday announced the signing of a definitive agreement to purchase Aleris Corporation, a global aluminium rolled products major, headquartered in the US, for $ 2.58 billion in a debt finance deal.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Hindalco said that over a decade ago, with the Novelis acquisition, Hindalco leapfrogged into the global arena of the Aluminium Industry. It made Hindalco a global multinational and brought with it top-tier international customers and best in class capabilities in aluminium value-added products. Since then, Novelis has grown significantly and continues to be the global leader in its markets. The acquisition of Aleris is the next phase of its aluminum value-added products growth strategy. This will solidify its position as the world’s No.1 aluminum Value-Added Products player, said Birla.

Post this acquisition, the company is well placed to serve its customers across geographies in automotive and now the high-end aerospace segments. It will have a presence throughout the downstream aluminum value chain in Asia, positioning the company for future growth in the region. This also enhances the access to world-class manufacturing capabilities for Hindalco’s existing Indian aluminum value-added operations and accelerates its path to making world-class products in India, said Birla.

Since Hindalco’s $6 billion acquisition of Novelis in August 2007, Novelis has further invested $2 billion in the business over the last decade. The focus has been on building an early mover position in the automotive markets, creating differentiation through its sustainable operating model of recycling and deepening its commitment to future growth markets in South America and Asia. As a result, Novelis today is the world’s number 1 company in the aluminium value added products segment in terms of size and in segments like Automotive and Beverage Can and its earnings have grown manyfold since its acquisition.

At a market segment level, the acquisition enriches the portfolio with the fast growing automotive segment and entry into the high-end technology driven aerospace segment. Moreover, access to the continuous-cast capabilities would enhance Hindalco’s competitive position in the Building and Construction (B&C) segment. From a footprint perspective, Aleris has a wide base of manufacturing locations. This not only deepens the combined entity’s presence in developed markets like the US and Europe, but it also positions Novelis well in the emerging markets of Asia. Aleris has invested approximately US$ 900 million in the last few years in the automotive and aerospace businesses. The ramp-up of these capacities in the near-term will significantly bolster Novelis’ growth across regions and market segments. As a result, Novelis will have a further diversified business portfolio across regions, segments and customers.

The calibre of Aleris’ capabilities is validated by long-term contracted business from blue chip-customers in sectors like Automotive and Aerospace. Koblenz, Germany is Aleris’ global hub of research & development and has the vintage and track record of developing and producing world-class products for more than 50 years – this will significantly add to Novelis’ strength in its R&D Centre across the Atlantic in Kennesaw, US, bringing new alloy and manufacturing expertise enabling it to stay ahead of the market in the future.

Aleris’ modern Zhenjiang facility located proximate to Novelis’ facility in Changzhou enhances Novelis’ competitive position in Asia by giving it access to SHFE (Shanghai Futures Exchange) metal integration and strengthening its market leadership as an aluminium sheet supplier in the world’s largest and fastest growing automotive market where electric vehicle demand is expected to grow significantly requiring lightweight materials like aluminium for both batteries and car bodies.

Aleris is the market leader in the B&C segment in the US, driven mainly by its unique recycling enabled continuous cast technology at Uhrichsville and other plants in the US. This is traditionally a highly competitive market segment, but Aleris’ quality and responsiveness has helped it sustain leadership in these markets over the years.

Aleris is in the early stages of ramping up its automotive investments in Lewisport, US. This plant draws its technological and manufacturing expertise in automotive from the well-established auto plant in Duffel, Belgium. This ramping up of asset overcomes the time lag for Novelis to build new plants and helps it serve customers in the fast growing US aluminium automotive market.

The acquisition adds to Hindalco’s ability to bring in the latest capabilities in aluminium value-added products to India. The Indian aluminium market is at the cusp of growth given the evolving state of per capita GDP vs Aluminium consumption in the country. Similar exponential growth was witnessed in China a decade ago. In these early stages of growth and fuelled by the government’s Make-in-India campaign, segments like B&C and transportation are likely to grow significantly. Given its synergy with Novelis, Hindalco has become the market leader in aluminium value-added products in India and is poised to capture this growth in the future. Further, Aleris’ expertise in this segment will give Hindalco’s Indian Aluminium value-added products business an edge over the local competition while enabling it to compete with global players foraying into the lucrative Indian market.

Proforma Consolidated revenues will be at approximately $21 billion with an employee base of around 40,000. The details of the major manufacturing facilities are listed below.

Meanwhile, Anjani K Agrawal, Partner and Global Steel Leader, EY, said, “Acquisition of Aleris is a great strategic move by Hindalco – Novelis. Apart from pursuing value-added segments, the rationale and key drivers include access to high growth sectors like automotive and transportation, entry into aerospace & defence, truck trailers and construction sectors. Consolidation of both the players with focus on technology and knowhow will be immensely value accretive over a long term for the entire aluminium business. The timing seems opportune as capital investments by Aleris within the USA will be leveraged in a more favorable trade policy environment.”

Source: Click to read the media release