Rusalibi

FAS allowed the creation of "Russian Aluminum"

The Federal Antimonopoly Service has approved the deal between RUSAL, SUAL and Glencore to create the world's largest aluminum company. On this occasion, representatives of the FAS and the participants in the deal held a joint press conference yesterday, at which they spoke about what the agency will demand from the new Russian monopolist and what support from the authorities he has the right to count on. Deputy head of the FAS Andrey Tsyganov said that his service is “very pleased with the cooperation that we were able to establish with the companies.” “We conducted a continuous dialogue and received comprehensive and objective answers to all existing questions,” he said.

However, in exchange for recognizing the rights of a de facto monopolist to operate on the Russian market, the FAS demanded a number of concessions. In particular, according to Mr. Tsyganov, the merged company will have to coordinate all mergers and acquisitions with government agencies and inform about the situation in the aluminum industry. In addition, the company will have to coordinate with the FAS any reduction in volumes, as well as changes in the quality of products. “Russian Aluminum” will inform us for 20 years about how it behaves in the market, to whom it sells products and at what price,” Mr. Tsyganov promised. However, Valery Draganov, RUSAL’s recently appointed director of government relations, who was present at the briefing yesterday, clarified that if all the orders of the antimonopoly service are fulfilled, Russian Aluminum can seek their cancellation: “If the order is not necessary, then the FAS can revoke it,” - - he reminded.

There was hardly any doubt that the FAS would support the deal to create the world's largest aluminum corporation based mainly on Russian facilities. The creation of a single company based on the capacities of RUSAL, SUAL and the alumina assets of the Swiss Glencore brings to the market a new leader in the aluminum industry, which will annually produce more than 4 million tons of aluminum and 11 million tons of alumina and control 12.5% ​​of the world production of primary aluminum and 16% of production alumina.

The head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, reported in January that the deal, officially announced in October last year, would be approved. Apparently, in the less than four weeks that have passed since then, all formalities have been resolved. In addition, during this period, the European Commission also expressed approval of the deal, which, of course, simplified the decision-making procedure for the Russian antimonopoly authorities. The companies have already received permission from the antimonopoly authorities of Ukraine, Montenegro and Turkey.

After Mr. Artemyev's statement, the market began to actively discuss information about the possibility of closing the transaction before the previously announced deadline - April 1. However, Valery Draganov said yesterday that the closing date of the deal has not yet changed. In addition, its participants still need to obtain Bulgarian approval - since the deal was announced before its official entry into the European Union, it will need separate approval. However, participants expect to receive it soon. As Mr. Draganov stated, “approval of the transaction had to be obtained from nine jurisdictions, with approval from the FAS taking the longest.”

A joint press release from RUSAL and the Federal Antimonopoly Service quotes the CEO of the aluminum company, Alexander Bulygin, as saying that “the FAS decision is of great importance, providing support for the creation of the first Russian transnational corporation, which will become the new world leader in its industry.” “We are close to completing the merger and plan to close the deal in the near future,” he says. And Valery Draganov added at the briefing that “de facto, in early March, RUSAL’s management takes over control.” As is known, the participants in the transaction decided to appoint the current CEO of RUSAL, Alexander Bulygin, as the general director of the new company. And the board of directors will include 12 people: six representatives from RUSAL, two representatives from SUAL, one from Glencore and three independent directors, one of whom will be the current president of SUAL, Brian Gilbertson.

In accordance with the terms of the agreement, EN+ (the energy and metallurgical division of Basic Element, which also manages RUSAL) will own 66% of the shares of the merged company, SUAL shareholders - 22%, Glencore shareholders - 12%. Russian Aluminum will operate in 17 countries on five continents.

Anna LANDER