INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - MAY - JUNE 2007
The Month that was ...

HINDALCO CLEARS LAST HURDLE FOR NOVELIS BUY

The final step for acquiring Novelis has been completed. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved Hindalco Industries' acquisition of Novelis, making the Atlanta based company now a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindalco. The acquisition also makes the Aditya Birla group company, one of the world's top five integrated aluminium players with a total revenue of about $14 billion; the group has a combined revenue of about $28 billion.

"Hindalco and Novelis have received shareholder and court approval and all required regulatory consents," said a group spokesperson. Shares of Hindalco's ended down 0.9% at Rs 145.20 on the BSE.

Late last week, about 99.8% of Novelis' shareholders had approved the acquisition at a special meeting. Under the terms of the transaction, Hindalco, through a subsidiary AV Metals, will acquire Novelis at $44.93 for every share, totalling the acquisition at $6 billion.

Hindalco through its wholly owned subsidiary AV Metals, acquired 75,415,536 common shares of Novelis, representing 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares. Immediately after closing, AV Metals transferred the common shares of Novelis to its wholly owned subsidiary AV Aluminum. Novelis' stock has ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange. De listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange is expected to occur shortly.