Trimet completes purchase of Rio Tinto plants

Trimet Aluminum AG has taken control of two former Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. production plants in France.

The Essen, Germany-based aluminum producer said Dec. 16 that the move came after it received regulatory approval for a deal signed in July.

The plants—in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Castelsarrasin, France—make aluminum products used in the power transmission and automotive sectors, Trimet said.

The acquisition should give Trimet a presence in the aluminum wire market and boost its core business of supplying specialty products, chief executive officer Martin Iffert said.

Iffert is expected to become chief executive officer of Trimet France SAS, which is majority owned by Trimet and in which Paris-based Electricité de France SA (EDF) holds a minority stake, the company said.

Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan announced plans to dispose of the operations a year ago. The company has since confirmed that it is reorganizing its commercial businesses in the Americas and Europe, which sources have said comes in part because divestitures in both regions have left the company with a smaller footprint and fewer pounds of metal to sell.

Besides the sale of its French operations, Rio Tinto Alcan also has sold a smelter in Sebree, Ky., to Chicago-based Century Aluminum Co. and decided to halt work on a multibillion-dollar smelter project in Paraguay.