Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) has announced that it will be making an offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Alcan Inc. (TSX: AL; NYSE: AL) for US$58.60 in cash and 0.4108 of a share of Alcoa common stock for each outstanding common share of Alcan. The transaction will create a premier diversified global aluminum company, with a complementary portfolio of assets and enhanced growth opportunities, and better position the combined company to build value for shareholders. Alcoa expects to begin its offer on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.
Based on Alcoa’s closing stock price on May 4, 2007, the offer has a value of US$73.25 per Alcan share or approximately US$33 billion in enterprise value. The Alcoa offer represents a 32% premium to Alcan’s average closing price on the NYSE over the last 30 trading days and a 20% premium to Alcan’s closing price on May 4, 2007, its all-time high.
Commenting on the offer, Alain J.P. Belda, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alcoa, stated: “This offer follows almost two years of discussions between our companies regarding a variety of potential business combination transactions, including unsuccessful Board-level discussions of a merger transaction last fall. We are very disappointed that those efforts did not result in a negotiated transaction – a conclusion we would have strongly preferred. We believe firmly in the compelling strategic rationale behind the combination of Alcoa and Alcan and are convinced that this transaction creates substantial value for both sets of shareholders and for our customers around the world. We are therefore taking our offer directly to Alcan shareholders.”
The combination of Alcoa and Alcan creates a stronger, more diverse global competitor with the scale and cost structure to be competitive over the long term within a rapidly changing industry landscape. Alcoa and Alcan will bring together a complementary portfolio of businesses and benefit from a broader talent base, enhanced research and development expertise, and shared values. The combined company will also have a better balance of growth projects. Together, Alcoa and Alcan will be better able to prioritize and execute on key expansion and modernization projects, and maximize performance improvement opportunities from sharing best practices and leveraging procurement.
The combined company will have increased financial resources to fund innovative research and development projects intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, improve the efficiency of the smelting process, and pursue new technologies designed to facilitate low cost aluminum production.
Mr. Belda said, “The combination of Alcoa and Alcan will significantly deepen an already extensive commitment by both companies to Canada, and it will ensure that Canada remains a world leader in the mining and metals industry. The new company will have dual head offices in Montréal and New York, with strategic management functions located in each city. Montréal also will become the headquarters for our global primary products business, which will increase the size and importance of the global business headquartered in Canada.”
Shareholder Value Creation
The combined company will have a significantly enhanced financial profile. Alcoa expects the combination to generate pre-tax cost synergies of approximately US$1 billion annually once fully implemented in the third year following closing. Key sources of synergies include operational improvements in the areas of smelting and refining, overhead improvements such as sales and general administrative expense and plant costs, and procurement. The transaction is expected to be accretive to both cash flow per share and earnings per share within the first year of operation as a combined company. The combined company will generate substantial free cash flow that will enable it to rapidly reduce acquisition-related debt, while continuing to invest in growth opportunities.
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