Balli Group is currently in talks for the sale of BBG Alum, metallurgy industry sources told Business Magazin. The potential buyer is Ruskyi Aluminyi (Rusal), the world’s third leading aluminium producer. The offer by the Russian company could be as high as several tens of millions of dollars, sources say.
Both Balli Group and Rusal representatives in Romania declined to comment on the speculated sale.
Balli Group’s decision to drop the Tulcea-based company came for a number of reasons. On the one hand, the Alaghband brothers, the founders and shareholders of the group, are now faced with a series of problems, including legal issues, and have decided to concentrate on the group’s larger businesses. However, there are also local reasons.
Early in the 1990s, Balli built almost its entire strategy around the integrated aluminium group it planned to create. At the time, the group enjoyed favourable conditions, having enlisted as advisor General Victor Stanculescu, a highly influential character close to the President of the day.
Balli bought harbour operator Comvex Constanta and Alum Tulcea, and established the RoBank bank and Asigurarea Anglo-Romana. insurance company.
Some years ago, General Stanculescu fell out of favour and, added to that, Balli failed to acquire Alro in 2002.
It is for these reasons the group is now preparing an exit from the Romanian market. Balli sold RoBank to Hungary’s OTP Bank last year and dropped its financial support for Asigurarea Anglo-Romana, which lost its operating licence.
The sale of Alum Tulcea has always been on the cards in the last couple of years, mainly due to the arrears built up by the decline in the alumina price.
Rusal has been a potential buyer for BBG Alum right from the start and has been negotiating a possible takeover of the company since 2001.
Alum was acquired by Balli Group in 1995 as the first step in the creation of an integrated group that was to include an aluminium producer (Alro Slatina) and its processing company (Alprom Slatina).