15 June 2004 06:05
Rusal loses Nigerian smelter tender
LAGOS. June 15 (Interfax) - The U.S. consortium BFI Group Corp. won a June 14 tender for 77.5% of Aluminium Smelter
Co of Nigeria (Alscon), outbidding Russian aluminum giant Rusal, a source close to the tender told Interfax.
BFI bid $410 million while Rusal made a conditional offer of $210 million, which did not meet the tender
conditions.
"We offered a price and terms which we think correspond entirely to the value of the asset," a Rusal
representative told Interfax.
Nigeria's privatization authorities still have to endorse the tender results.
The tender was put back on several occasions last year due partly to differences between the Nigerian government and
minority shareholders Ferrostaal AG of Germany and Alcoa of the United States.
The 193,000-tpy Alscon smelter was commissioned in 1997 but shut down after just two years in which it ran at
capacity for 40,000 tonnes of aluminum per year. It is currently idling because of bankruptcy proceedings.
The Nigerian government owns 91.06% of the shares in Alscon, Ferrostaal 7.5% and Alcoa 0.94%. [RU ASIA EUROPE EEU
EMRG NE ALU MET US DE WEU IPO MRG STX] pr
[Interfax] |
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