Umicore Acquires French Recycler; Chinese Company

Umicore has agreed to purchase for about $5.8 million the outstanding shares of GM Metal, a zinc alloy processor and recycler based near Poitiers in France.

GM Metal is specialized in the collection and toll processing of zinc bearing by-products from the die-casting industry.

GM Metal has its own regional collection network and has developed melting and casting technologies which enable it to return to its customers zinc alloys which are compliant with the most stringent European standards.

GM Metal produces about 14,000 metric tons per year of zinc alloys, and generates a turnover of about $9.5 million. It currently employs some 30 people.

The expertise of GM Metal in the recycling of zinc alloys will allow Umicore to further strengthen and improve its range of services to its customers. These services already include technical assistance with the objective of optimizing the quality of die-cast parts and the economics of the die-casting process.

GM Metal will become part of the Zinc Alloying business unit of Umicore. Umicore is the market leader in zinc specialty products for die-casting and galvanizing in Europe, and currently produces and markets around 200,000 metric tons per year of zinc alloys to the die-casting industry.

Umicore also entered into an agreement to purchase the outstanding shares of Fuhong, a wholly-owned foreign enterprise based in China.

Umicore started up its industrial activities in the People’s Republic of China in 1995 with the creation of the Shanghai Blue Lotus Metals Co., joint venture at Shanghai. This successful initiative has become China’s leading producer of cobalt and zinc powders.

The present transaction marks the first 100 percent acquisition of an existing Chinese corporation for Umicore.

Fuhong is the leading Chinese producer of zinc dust for anti-corrosive paints. It is recognized for compliance with western quality standards and currently sells some 10,000 metric tons of zinc dust to most of the major coating producers in China and South East Asia.

With this acquisition, Umicore will broaden its position as a producer of specialty zinc products and further increase the international spread of its zinc dust activities to serve a world-wide customer base, through five production sites located in Belgium, Norway, Malaysia, Australia and now China.

The Asian market is the fastest growing market for zinc dust. It is currently estimated at about 60,000 metric tons per year, representing nearly half of the worldwide market.