EC clears Rio Tinto Alcan's sale of French aluminium plants

The European Commission said Friday it has approved Rio Tinto Alcan's planned sale of aluminium plants in France.

"The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of joint control over two aluminium production facilities located in France of the Rio Tinto Alcan group by the Trimet group of Germany and Electricite de France S.A. (EDF) of France,".

On July 13, Rio Tinto Alcan said it had received a binding offer for its St Jean-de-Maurienne aluminum smelter and its Castelsarrasin casting facility in France from German aluminum producer Trimet. The deal will bring in French state-controlled power firm EDF as a minority stakeholder.

Since 2009, Rio Tinto Alcan has closed or curtailed over 600,000 mt of aluminium capacity and sold a further 13 non-core businesses. It has raised more than $4.4 billion from its aluminum divestments over the period.

Trimet manufactures aluminium including extrusion billets, rolling ingots, remelting ingots, liquid aluminium and die-cast parts, trades aluminium products and scraps as well as copper products.

"The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns, in particular because the overlaps between the parties' activities are moderate," the EC said.