Hydro Studies Acquisitions AMAG after Buying $4.9 billion of assets from Vale

Norsk Hydro ASA, the Norwegian aluminum company buying $4.9 billion of assets from Vale SA, is studying other acquisitions and has Austria Metall GmbH on its “radar,” according to its chief executive officer.

“This is one of the targets on the radar that’s coming up,” CEO Svein Richard Brandtzaeg said today in an interview in London. Hydro’s primary focus is to complete the Vale deal this quarter, achieve full output at its Qatari smelter and reduce operational costs, he said.

One Equity Partners LLC, the buyout arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., is preparing to sell its stake in Austria Metall, three people with knowledge of the process said last month. Austria Metall, also known as AMAG, may attract bids of more than 1 billion euros （$1.4 billion）, according to one of the people.

Hydro, which is seeking to reduce operational expenses by $300 a ton by the end of 2013, achieved a $50-a-ton cut last year and plans to expand that to $175 in 2011, the CEO said.

Profit was also boosted by a 300 million-krone （$52 million） gain from an insurance payout at Qatalum, Hydro’s joint-venture plant with Qatar Petroleum, after primary aluminum output was halted in August