FRANKFURT: Dubai International Capital (DIC) is launching the sale of German alumina products maker Almatis as the fund seeks to reduce its liabilities in the wake of a debt restructuring.
Almatis is around 80 percent owned by DIC with a stake also held by Blackstone unit GSO Capital Partners. DIC has mandated Barclays to explore the options of the possible divestment.
David Smoot, DIC Chief Executive said the company had earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of around $100 million in 2014, without giving an expected valuation for the firm.
Listed aluminum companies trade at an average of 6.8 times their expected EBITDA. Groups which like Almatis specialize in premium alumina products – such as Vesuvius, Albermarle and Imerys trade at a slightly higher average multiple of 7.5.
Almatis could bring in more than $750 million in a potential sale If valued at a similar multiple. DIC was hoping for a substantially higher price tag.
Further DIC bought Almatis at the height of the buyout boom in 2007 for $1.2 billion from Rhone Capital and Teachers’ Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. But its investment crumbled as demand for the company’s products collapsed in the economic crisis and Almatis went into restructuring in 2010.
