New aluminium giant is born

Russia's RusAl today announced the completion of the deal which will see it merge with fellow Russian producer SUAL and the aluminium interests of Swiss trade house Glencore.

The new entity—UC RUSAL—is now the world's largest aluminium producer, combining 4 bauxite mines, 10 alumina refineries, 14 aluminium smelters and 3 foil mills. Production capacity is now around 4 million tpy of primary aluminium and 11 million tpy of alumina.

Alexander Bulygin, previously chief executive officer at RusAl, takes on the same position at UC RUSAL. The company's non-executive chairman—subject of a great deal of speculation in recent weeks—is confirmed as Victor Vekselberg, previously Chairman of SUAL.

Also on the board are Oleg Deripaska, chairman of Basic Element; Len Blavatnik, Chairman of Access Industries, Inc.; Ivan Glasenberg, the CEO of Glencore; Andrew Michelmore, the CEO of En+; Michael Nossal, the CFO of En+; Vladimir Titkov, General Director, En+Service; Dmitry Afanasiev, Chairman of Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners and two independent non-executive directors — Nigel Kenny and Philip Lader. A third independent non-executive director will be appointed by 1 July, 2007.
UC RUSAL reiterated its intention of undertaking an initial public offering within three years.

Alexander Bulygin commented of the creation of UC RUSAL: "Today we have created a new industry leader. This deal is a proactive response to several significant industry trends: dynamic growth, competition to secure access to energy and raw material resources, and active consolidation to enhance competitive positions. Our global presence, strong financial base, access to hydropower and proprietary technology provide UC RUSAL with a strong platform to support our future development. Our goal is to become an international metals and energy corporation providing leadership in new areas of business."