Indian billionaire KM Birla to weigh Constellium, Aleris bids

Bloomberg

Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla is evaluating possible bids for Constellium NV and Aleris Corp. as his conglomerate seeks to grow its aluminum operations overseas, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Deliberations are at an early stage, and Aditya Birla Group hasn’t yet decided whether to proceed with an offer for either business, according to the people. The conglomerate could decide to pursue an acquisition through Novelis Inc., a unit of Birla’s Mumbai-listed Hindalco Industries, one of the people said.
Shares of Constellium jumped 8.1 percent in US trading to close at the highest level in more than two years. The move extended this year’s gains to 92 percent, giving the company a market value of $1.2 billion.
Constellium, the Dutch maker of aluminum products, is weighing options after drawing takeover interest, people familiar with the matter said earlier. Ohio-based Aleris had agreed to sell itself to Zhongwang USA LLC for $2.3 billion including debt, but the deal was left in limbo after US officials raised national-security concerns about the Chinese bidder and the companies withdrew an application for regulatory approval.
“Hindalco successfully managed to turn around Novelis, which was once considered a white elephant,” Sanjiv Bhasin, an executive vice president at local brokerage India Infoline Ltd., said.
Hindalco is focusing on downstream products as it seeks to
take advantage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to boost infrastructure spending in Asia’s third-largest economy.