Aluminium smelter Constellium SE signed a binding agreement with Belgian industrial group Vaessen Aluminium on the sale of three of Constellium’s extrusion plants in Germany for €48.8 million (US$54.31 million).
The three Constellium plants are in Burg, Crailsheim, and Landau and specialize in soft aluminium alloy extruded products. The three plants employ about 450 workers among them and supply the building and construction, transportation, and industry markets on the European continent. The plants offer aluminium extrusions with fleet ranges of between 20 and 44 MN and lengths of up to 15 meters. The aluminium alloys on offer from the plants are 6060, 6106, 6351, 6005A, and 6082.
Cross sections available at the plants range from between 100×250 mm to 340×50 mm. Weights offered range from 200 g to 20 kg per meter. The plants are capable of integrated anodizing (sometimes with local partners), a thermal brake line, bending and machining of curtain sides, CNC machining/lathes, sawing, subcontractors (for machining, painting, and anodizing), internal processing for the automotive industry, operations such as deburring and punching, and other options on request.
The buyer Vaessen Aluminium is a Belgian family-owned company that produces aluminium billets and profiles, lighting and ceiling materials, and wall claddings.
Constellium says that the closing is still subject to regulatory approval but is slated to close in the back half of this year.
Constellium, based in France, was founded 1855 as Henri Merle et Compagnie and subsequently renamed Pechiney in 1950. Pechiney was purchased by Alcan in 2003, which was purchased by Rio Tinto in 2007. In 2011 Rio Tinto sold Alcan Engineered Products to Apollo Management (51%) and FSI (10%). Constellium produces rolled and extruded aluminium products from various alloys, bringing in €8.1 billion of revenue in 2022.