Alcoa won't sweeten bid for Alcan

Alcoa Inc. is not about to sweeten its $33-billion (U.S.) bid for Montreal-based Alcan Inc., the head of Alcoa told a conference in New York this morning.

"We think the offer is full," Alcoa's chief executive officer Alain Belda told a session at a JP Morgan conference.
On May 7, Alcoa announced a hostile takeover bid for Alcan, a cash-and-stock offer that represented a 20 per cent premium to Alcan's stock price.

"At the moment, we think that is is a full price. It's a significant premium," Belda said.
"I'd hate to have to go higher than that at this point."

Alcan's board has recommended to shareholders that they reject the bid, saying that it is too low.