Russian oligarch takes over Alum Tulcea

Balli group sold the main stake in alumina producer BBG Alum Tulcea, in a deal worth 282 billion ROL (7.3 million euros) on RASDAQ Electronic Market. The stake sold by Balli accounts for 67% in Alum’s capital and market sources say the stake was bought by a company owned by Russian oligarch Vitali Matshitski who controls the powerful company Alro Slatina.

The shares were transferred at a price of 64,000 ROL/share. The total transaction, including the takeover of the company’s debt, amounts to about 45 million euros.

Matshitski, with a fortune put at 10 billion US dollars, controls, in Russia, Rinko group with operations in the oil industry and is behind Marco trading company, the owner of primary aluminium producer Alro Slatina and of aluminium processing company Alprom Slatina.

He has been spending quite a lot of time in Bucharest to solve the problems that emerged Alro after the resignation of three managers and to negotiate the takeover of Alum.

Balli group has also discussed the sale of Alum with Ruskii Aluminii (Rusal), but the stake was eventually gained by the owner of Alro.

The new owner’s strategy is likely to aim at the integration of Alum within Alro and Alprom and the subsequent sale of the integrated company to Rusal.

The Alaghband brothers, the founders and shareholders of Balli group, have decided to focus on the group’s core operations.

In the early ’90s, Balli built up almost its entire strategy for Romania around the integrated aluminium group it wanted to create on the Romanian market.

After it took over Alum in 1995, the group failed to buy Alro in 2002 and gave up on its expansion plans in the Romanian aluminium industry.

Beside Alum, Balli has also acquired the harbour operator Comvex Constanta, set up a bank, RoBank and an insurance company, Asigurarea Anglo-Romana. The group is preparing to exit the Romanian market. Balli last year sold RoBank to the Hungarian OTP bank and withdrew financial support from Asigurarea Anglo-Romana, which lost its operating licence.

The buyer of the main stake in Alum is forced by the capital market legislation to launch, within two months’ time, a public takeover offering for all the shares it does not own.

Until the offering is closed, the voting rights within the General Meeting of Shareholders for the stakes exceeding 33% in the capital of Alum are suspended.

The main minority shareholder in Alum is SIF Banat-Crisana, with a 23.8% stake in the company.

BBG Alum reported H1 total revenues worth 38 million euros, and profit of 3.3 million euros.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro