Metal tycoon Gupta buys EU's largest aluminium smelter for $500m

SMM:, Sanjeev Gupta completed his fifth deal at a metal factory in less than a year.

Liberty House Group is buying Europe's largest aluminium smelter, the Dunkerque smelter in France, for $500m from Rio Tinto (Rio Tinto Group). Sanjeev Gupta, president of Liberty House Group, said the deal involved some cooperation with the French government and would be part of the country's 2 billion euro investment.

The deal is the latest sign that Gupta has shaken up western metals manufacturing through frenzied acquisitions, his fifth deal in less than a year. Last year, the company bought steel and iron ore assets in South Carolina, Minnesota and Australia.

The Dunkerque smelter produces 270000 tonnes of aluminium a year, according to London-based Rio Tinto.

Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House and its sister company SIMEC tried to buy British steel giant Tata Steel (Tata Steel Ltd.) in early 2016 It was the first time it had attracted attention, and although it did not succeed, it bought Tata's small factories in Scotland and northern England. The speed and scale of its acquisitions are staggering.

Sanjeev Gupta lives in Chepstow, a small town near the border between England and Wales. He started trading commodities in 2000 and bought his first steel mill in 2009.

In December, Gupta said, Liberty House was preparing to issue bonds and would hold an initial public offering to further fund the expansion. At the time, Gupta said it wanted to buy factories in the Middle East, particularly in the cement, steel or aluminum industries.

(SMM) Yan Cedar Translation of Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network