"SUAL co-owner Viktor Vekselberg and Russian Aluminum owner Oleg Deripaska have agreed on the companies' merger," Kommersant says. "The deal, which will be officially announced in the fall, will create the largest primary aluminum producer in the world."
The consolidated company will command a 100% share of the Russian aluminum market, Kommersant says.
Kommersant says that Deripaska will receive a 75% stake in the consolidated company, while Vekselberg and his partners will get 25%.
Kommersant says that while the deal will create a monopoly on the Russian aluminum market, RusAl and SUAL will have no problem obtaining permission from the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service. The new law on the protection of competition does not oppose such deals if they contribute to strengthening Russian producers on the world market, Kommersant says.
Founded in March 2000 following a merger of major aluminum plants in the former Soviet Union, RusAl exports aluminum to 50 countries and operates in nine Russian regions and 13 countries. The company holds 75% of the Russian market and 10% of the international market.
One of the world's top 10 aluminum companies, SUAL has enterprises in nine Russian regions and in Ukraine, and annually mines over 5.4 million metric tons of bauxite, some 2.3 mln metric tons of alumina, over 1 mln tons of primary aluminum, and about 60,000 metric tons of silicon. It also manufactures aluminum products, including foil, wire, and wheel rims, and exports 80% of its production.
