Bankruptcy Judge Approves Sale of Ormet

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has approved the sale of substantially all of the assets of Ormet Corp., a producer of primary aluminum and certain of its affiliates to Smelter Acquisition LLC, a portfolio company owned by private investment funds managed by Wayzata Investment Partners LLC.

Ormet and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection in in late February.

Following Smelter Acquisition's acquiring it, Ormet will shed substantially all of its legacy liabilities and emerge with a stronger balance sheet and sole equity sponsor in Wayzata, the company reports. The company does not anticipate that the acquisition will impact Ormet’s ordinary course operations.

“Ormet made a major step forward today in finalizing our purchase agreement with Smelter Acquisition, LLC. The remaining gating issue for Ormet to exit from bankruptcy is approval of suitable relief to the current power arrangement authorized by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Ormet will be submitting a proposal to the PUCO shortly. I want to thank the Governor, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, our legislators, our employees, the USW and our community for the support that they have given us to reach this point.” says Mike Tanchuk Ormet’s president and CEO.

The asset purchase agreement is subject to typical closing conditions, as well as satisfactory relief from the PUCO relating to the company’s power arrangements.