Alteo alumina refinery still in the run for takeover by two houses

Alteo alumina refinery, the producer of world-class speciality alumina is still in the run, as two houses are standing deadlock towards presenting their plan at the Marseille Commercial Court on November 17 to take over the plant.

The refinery based in Gardanne in the Bouches-du-Rhône has been in receivership since demand collapsed last year. Eight offers were placed on the judges' desk this summer, while six withdrew, failing to convince the unions. The last two were presented to employees on 13^th November during an extraordinary social and economic committee gathering.

The first comes from the logistics group United Mining Supply (UMS) based in Guinea. This family business knows the sector very well, as it holds a 30% stake in SMB, the world's largest bauxite mine, the raw material for alumina. Subject to Bercy's authorization, it proposes to buy back all the shares of the holding company Alteo - which owns the Gardanne plant and around ten commercial and technical subsidiaries around the world - from HIG Capital, owner of 80%, and management.

The mining company’s project proposes to take over all the staff (480 people) and to inject €30 million (plus €10 million in working capital) to put into service a new furnace for the manufacture of alumina with very high added value. With this investment, the prospective buyer wants to double its capacities in this area and boost its turnover, from €177 million last year to €260 million once the work is completed in 2025. A savings plan is also scheduled with the closure of the bauxite-to-alumina refinery process, known as the Bayer process. However, the operation could lead to the loss of 98 jobs, but it resolves the environmental problem posed by the storage of manufacturing residues which poisons the lives of residents.

The second offer is presented by the company Alto, newly created by the industrialist Alain de Krassny, the buyer of Kem-One and President of Donau Chemie, and Xavier Perrier, former Director of operations at Alteo. Unlike UMS, they offer the maintenance of the Bayer process. "This downstream part makes it possible to preserve the company's competitiveness on the international market", they explain in the letter of intent that Les Echos was able to consult. They specify that its closure would cost 40 million euros per year to the company, in particular in logistics of bauxite supply.

Instead, Alto proposes to invest more than €36 million to increase the volume of production and finally settle the subject of "red mud", with a maturity of 6 years. "The company benefits from a growing global market (+ 3% per year) and which is enriched every day by new applications for speciality alumina.” Savings will be made on the number of jobs, limited according to their recovery plan to 450 people.

source https://www.alcircle.com/news/alteo-alumina-refinery-still-in-the-run-for-takeover-by-two-houses-60699