Century acquires Rio Tinto Alcan’s Sebree smelter

Monterey, California-based Century Aluminum Company has announced that it is buying Rio Tinto Alcan's Sebree aluminum smelter in Henderson County, Kentucky. Sebree employs over 500 people and has an annual production capacity of 205kt/yr of primary aluminum.

Michael Bless, Century's president and CEO, said: "We are well acquainted with the Sebree smelter and its excellent management team and talented group of employees. We believe that, with these facilities under common ownership, we will derive real benefits in better serving customers and through improving both operations with the sharing of best practices in safety, technical and operational practices and procedures. My colleagues and I are anxious to welcome Sebree's men and women into the Century group of companies."

According to Bless, Sebree, like Hawesville, is a globally competitive operation 'in every area other than the cost of power', adding that gaining access to competitive energy was crucial for the continued viability of both Hawesville and Sebree.

"We hope that the tentative agreement we have reached for Hawesville will be the first step towards obtaining market priced power," said Bless.

Century will acquire the smelter for $61 million in cash (after $4 million in purchase price deductions) and will receive $71 million in working capital, subject to customary adjustments. As part of the transaction, RTA will retain all the historical environmental liabilities of the Sebree smelter and has agreed to fully fund the pension plan being assumed by Century's subsidiary at closing.

The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including the consent of Kenergy Corporation to the assignment of the smelter's existing power contract, which will terminate on January 31, 2014.