Update: Aurubis partially sells off flat-rolled products plants to Intek Holding

The Aurubis locations for sale employ about 360 people. With plants in Germany, France, Italy, China and the U.S., KME is a manufacturer of copper and copper alloy products.

Aug. 9, the companies signed a corresponding term sheet that will serve as the basis for preparing a purchase agreement, Aurubis says in a news release. Aurubis says it assumes that the purchase agreement can be signed within the next two months and that the sites will be transferred following the approval of the sale by the responsible competition authorities. While both parties initially agreed to keep the sale price of the transaction confidential, Intek Holding has released additional information about the purchase price in line with the requirements of the Italian stock exchange supervisory authorities. It is expected to be approximately 8 million euros plus the value of the net working capital at the time of closing (which as of June 30 totaled about 67 million euros).

“Aurubis will be focusing even more strongly on its core business: primary copper production, recycling and our multimetal portfolio,” Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis AG, says. “With the planned partial sale, we’re now reducing the scope and complexity in the FRP segment as well.

“Intek Holding and the KME Group have profound international market knowledge,” he adds. “As a result, we view the next steps toward closing the contract very optimistically.”

In a news release issued by Intek, the company says the purchase is part of KME Group's strategy to focus on its core business of rolled products in copper and copper alloys and to further develop its manufacturing know‐how and product portfolio. The company’s goal is to produce operational efficiencies and to provide the best service to the customers.

Aurubis says despite negotiations with different interested parties, the plants in Stolberg, Germany; Pori, Finland; and Buffalo, New York, will remain in the Aurubis Group to be developed further. Strict restructuring and optimization programs have run successfully, and the markets for the entire segment are showing very promising development during the pandemic, according to the company.

In its quarterly earnings announced Aug. 5, Aurubis said the FRP segment generated operating earnings before taxes of 10 million euros in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The outlook for these plants is positive, according to the company.

*This story was updated Aug. 11 to include the value of the transaction.