Alcoa Inc. is flipping its investment in Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., known as Chalco, for a profit greater than $1 billion. The world's third-largest aluminum producer will sell 700 million Chalco shares, with an option to increase the number to 884.2 million shares, for HK$17.26 to HK$18.27 ($2.22 to $2.35) per share. Alcoa formed the strategic alliance back in 2001, buying about 7% of the firm when Chalco IPO'd at HK$1.37 per share.

In other news, Canadian aluminum producer Alcan Inc. signed a joint venture agreement with Dingsheng Aluminum to set up a facility in Zhenjiang, China. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Alcan will be a majority shareholder.

Having rebuffed a takeover proposal by Alcoa earlier this year, Alcan is also the target of a $37 billion acquisition by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto plc. This purchase would make Rio Tinto the largest aluminum producer in the world.

Go to the story concerning Chalco
Read about the Alcan JV

Join Corporate Dealmaker's LinkedIn forum