The transaction, which was carried out at the assessed market value of Vimetco Trading, will allow Alro to improve its synergies between production and sales of finished products and also benefit from a sales and marketing team with a consolidated experience in over ten years of activity, the report reads.
As a result of the transaction, Alro becomes associated with 100% of the capital of Vimetco Trading, which since 2008 has acted mainly as agent without representation of Alro in all markets of aluminum products in the world.
Alro Slatina is struggling with the soaring energy prices, being Romania’s biggest energy consumer. The company recently said that it did not make a decision regarding a temporary shutdown of its activity, adding it “was concerned about the recent evolution of energy prices, deeming the level reached over the past days as economically ungrounded and unsustainable”.
Constantin Popescu, head of Alumnistul Free Trade Union of Alro Slatina, previously told Ziarul Financiar daily that Alro started a total activity shutdown program due to soaring energy prices and to a lack of energy on the market.
“We’re facing exorbitant energy prices and the lack of energy on the market. We have already started the closedown process. We’re extracting aluminum and are set to close down smelters depending on the market. We cannot produce at a price of $2,300-$2.600 per ton of aluminum,” Constantin Popescu said at that time.
Alro has a stock market capitalization of RON1.3 billion. It is 54.2% held by Russia’s Vimetco Group, while Paval Holding, held by brothers Adrian and Dragos Paval, the owners of do-it-yourself retailer Dedeman, owns 23.2% of Alro’s share capital. Property restitution fund Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) has an ownership stake of 10.2% in Alro.
ALR shares have been trading down 18% since the beginning of 2021, amid deals worth RON62 million, per stock market data.