Befesa fully acquires American Zinc Recycling plant

Befesa S.A. has announced the acquisition of the remaining 93 percent stake in the North Carolina facility operated by United States-based zinc recycling and refining business unit American Zinc Recycling (AZR).

Befesa, based in Luxembourg, already owned 7 percent of the facility as part of an acquisition move that closed in August of last year. Additionally, Befesa had an agreement envisaging the acquisition of the remaining 93 percent stake in the facility for a purchase price of $135 million, “on the condition that certain milestones were met,” the firm says.

Befesa says the current environment, characterized by high inflation and energy prices, has provided Befesa with the opportunity to renegotiate favorably the terms and conditions of the agreement, hence reducing the acquisition price by 65 percent to $47 million. The purchase price will be paid all in cash from Befesa’s balance sheet.

The zinc refining facility in North Carolina is centrally located between Befesa’s U.S. recycling assets. The plant applies new solvent extraction technology to process Waelz Oxide into what Befesa calls a “special high-grade zinc.”

The zinc refining business provides Befesa an ability to support its electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) recycling operations in the U.S., addressing what it calls a shortage of smelting capacity in the North American market.

The plant has an installed capacity to produce approximately 140,000 tons of high-grade zinc per year and will be fed with Waelz Oxide from the four EAFD recycling plants of Befesa U.S. The refining facility is the only one of its kind in the world producing “green” zinc from 100-percent-recycled raw materials, Befesa says.