Norsk Hydro: Competition Authorities Approve Acquisition Of Stake In Sapa JV

(RTTNews) - Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro AS (NHY, NHYDY.PK, NHYDY.PK) announced Tuesday that the competition authorities have approved the acquisition of Sapa.

The acquisition by Hydro of Orkla's 50% interest in Sapa has received all competition approvals required before closing. Consequently, Hydro and Orkla expect to close the transaction on or about October 2.

It was in July that Norsk Hydro agreed to acquire interest in Sapa joint venture for a total enterprise value of 27 billion Norwegian kroner. The deal would give Sapa's full ownership to Hydro. Sapa will become new business area in Hydro, named Extruded Solutions.

Hydro earlier said it expects the deal to be accretive to earnings and strong cash generation from Sapa from day 1.

Hydro and Orkla combined their aluminium extrusion assets in 2013, forming a 50/50 joint venture. Sapa operates within the business areas Extrusion Europe, Extrusion North America, Precision Tubing and Building Systems, has 22,400 employees and is present in 40 countries.

The combination will make Hydro the only global company in the aluminium industry that is fully integrated across the value chain and markets.