Hindalco to Buy Novelis for $6 Billion

MUMBAI, India (AP) -- Indian aluminum and copper producer Hindalco Industries Ltd. announced Sunday it plans to take over Canadian aluminum producer Novelis Inc. for $6 billion.

The all-cash acquisition would make Hindalco the largest rolled-aluminum products manufacturer in the world, a company statement said.

The planned Hindalco takeover comes less than two weeks after India's Tata Steel won a bidding war for European steel maker Corus Group PLC when its $11.3 billion offer topped a bid by a Brazilian company.

Hindalco is the flagship company of the Indian conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group.

"The acquisition is in line with our long-term strategies of expanding our global presence across our various businesses," Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said in the statement.

Hindalco would take over Novelis' debt of $2.4 billion, which would be included in the purchase price, the company said.

"Both the companies have signed an agreement on Hindalco taking over Novelis for US$6 billion and both the companies' boards have approved the proposal," said Pragnya Ram, a spokeswoman for the Aditya Birla Group.

Last week, Novelis saw its shares on the New York Stock Exchange jump on media reports about a possible takeover.

The acquisition, subject to some regulatory approvals, is likely to be completed by the second quarter of 2007, Hindalco said.