Atlanta-based aluminum processor Novelis Inc. is selling three of its European manufacturing plants to private equity firm American Industrial Acquisition Corp.
The plant sales are subject to regulatory approvals, but Novelis officials expect them to be completed this spring. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
According to its website, American Industrial Acquisition is a private group composed of 35 manufacturing facilities with revenue of more than $1 billion a year. It has specialized in buying and turning around distressed manufacturing units of major companies.
The aluminum rolling plants in Berlin; Dudelange, Luxembourg; and Rugles, France, employ a total of about 850 people. After the sale, Novelis will have 4,400 employees in Europe.
Philip Martens, Novelis’s president and CEO, said the operations are valuable but not essential to the company’s business plan.
“These foil operations are well-established businesses with strong customer bases; however, they are not aligned with the Novelis growth strategy,” Mr.Martens said in a news release. “Novelis is focused on growing the high-volume, premium markets of beverage cans, automobiles and specialty products.”
The company sells recycled and processed products to customers in these industries as well as construction, printing and consumer goods.
Mumbai, India-based aluminum processor Hindalco Industries Ltd. acquired Novelis in 2007. Novelis and Hindalco are members of Mumbai-based Aditya Birla Group.