Hydro says Alumetal purchase clears hurdle

Norway-based aluminum producer Norsk Hydro has been granted unconditional merger clearance by the European Commission (EC) regarding Hydro's proposed acquisition of Poland-based recycled-content aluminum producer Alumetal S.A.

Hydro first announced an offer to acquire Alumetal in April 2022, but that offer later expired during a merger review by the EC. In late April, Hydro announced a renewed tender offer process to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Alumetal.

A second bidder for Alumetal appeared May 2 in the form of Luxembourg-based Elemental Holding S.A., which says it notified the UOKiK (Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) of its intention to acquire an ownership stake in Alumetal S.A.

Elemental has proposed purchasing 49.9 percent of Alumetal S.A., saying “the acquisition would be part and parcel of Elemental’s plans to transform from a metals recycler into an integrated metals producer.”

“Our long-term goal is to vertically integrate the entire value chain in urban mining, which includes the collection, preprocessing, smelting and refining of metals. Alumetal’s aluminum-related activity aligns perfectly with this strategy," Elemental Holding CEO Pawel Jarski says.

A spokesperson for Elemental tells Recycling Today its offer should be seen as an alternative to Norsk Hydro by Alumetal shareholders and stakeholders.

Hydro says the EC subscription period for its second tender offer is expected to run into June, adding that it “aims to close the acquisition in early July, subject to further conditions being fulfilled.”

“The approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed acquisition of Alumetal," says Eivind Kallevik, Hydro Aluminium Metal executive president. "Today we move one important step closer to bring Alumetal into the Hydro family and develop an even broader range of low-carbon products for our customers.”

When Hydro made its initial offer last year, it said Alumetal had an annual production capacity of 275,000 metric tons of secondary aluminum at its three plants in Poland and one in Hungary.