Norsk Hydro Buys Alumafel In Spain For EUR77 Million

STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- Norsk Hydro Friday said it has agreed to acquire the privately owned Alumafel Group, a Spanish provider aluminum building systems, for EUR77 million.

The company said transaction confirms its position as a leading player in the global building systems industry and that the acquisition of Alumafel represents another step in the development of Hydro’s downstream operations, following two years of successful restructuring internally.

The agreement is subject to approval of the Spanish competition authorities, with closing expected by the end of June.

In 2007, the 30-year-old Alumafel Group delivered about 10,000 metric tons of building systems products. The company also supplied some 1,300 tons of extruded profiles and another 7,000 tons of aluminum plate and bars to industrial customers. This includes deliveries to Portugal, France and Northern Africa.

Alumafel’s turnover last year was around EUR110 million. The group has more than 500 employees.

Most of the Alumafel’s facilities are located in Spain’s northern region. Its main production site, in Miranda, has two extrusion presses, painting activities, and a fully automated buffer which serves as a central warehouse and local distribution center — one of the group’s 12 distribution centers in the country. It also owns an industrial trading activity in Vitoria and controlling interest in an anodizing operation.