EX-99.1 3 dex9911.htm ALERIS PRESS RELEASE DATED NOVEMBER 7, 2005 Aleris Press Release dated November 7, 2005

Exhibit 99.2

 

LOGO

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

For Immediate Release

 

ALERIS INTERNATIONAL, INC. TO PURCHASE

SELECTED ASSETS FROM ORMET CORPORATION

 

BEACHWOOD, OH – November 7, 2005 – Aleris International, Inc. (NYSE:ARS) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Ormet to purchase selected assets within the Hannibal Rolling Mill, as well as the operating facilities associated with the Bens Run recycling facility located in Friendly, West Virginia and Specialty Blanks Inc., located in Terre Haute, Indiana. The purchase price of $133 million is subject to adjustment based upon the level of accounts receivable and inventory over or under $90 million at closing.

 

Ormet has announced that they will cease operations at the Hannibal Rolling Mill, which will occur prior to closing. Aleris will transfer selected equipment and anticipates an increase of 125 million pounds of production at its other rolling mills. The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2006.

 

Aleris Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Demetriou stated, “This is another key strategic step aimed at optimizing our aluminum sheet production assets. The additional volume will allow Aleris to maximize throughput at our other rolling mills and more efficiently utilize our fixed cost base, making us more cost competitive on a global basis.”

 

The Bens Run facility is an aluminum scrap recycling operation that will become part of Aleris’s Aluminum Recycling segment. Speciality Blanks makes aluminum fabricated products for lighting, cookware and automotive wheel applications all representing new products for Aleris Rolled Products.

 

John Wasz, President of Aleris Rolled Products said, “This transaction provides us the opportunity to increase customer value through broader product and service offerings while providing Aleris greater industry and product diversification.”

 

The purchase will be funded out of the Company’s revolving line of credit and is expected to close at the end of the fourth quarter, subject to customary regulatory approvals.


Aleris International, Inc. is a major North American manufacturer of rolled aluminum products and is a global leader in aluminum recycling and the production of specification alloys. We are also a leading manufacturer of value-added zinc products that include zinc oxide, zinc dust and zinc metal. Headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the Company operates 33 production facilities in the U.S., Brazil, Germany, Mexico and Wales, and employs approximately 4,000 employees. For more information about the Company, please visit our Web site at www.aleris.com .

 

Contact:

   Michael D. Friday
     Aleris International, Inc.
     Phone # 216-910-3503

 

SAFE HARBOR REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Forward-looking statements made in this news release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements that contain words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “should” and similar expressions intended to connote future events and circumstances, and include statements regarding future actual and adjusted earnings and earnings per share; future improvements in margins, processing volumes and pricing; overall 2005 operating performance; anticipated higher adjusted effective tax rates; expected cost savings; success in integrating Aleris’s recent acquisitions; its future growth; an anticipated favorable economic environment in 2006; future benefits from acquisitions and new products; expected benefits from industry consolidation and post-hurricane reconstruction; and anticipated synergies resulting from the merger with Commonwealth and other acquisitions. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties would include, without limitation, Aleris’s levels of indebtedness and debt service obligations; its ability to effectively integrate the business and operations of its acquisition; further slowdowns in automotive production in the U.S. and Europe, the financial condition of Aleris’s customers and future bankruptcies and defaults by major customers; the availability at favorable cost of aluminum scrap and other metal supplies that the Company processes; the ability of the Company to enter into effective metals, natural gas and other commodity derivatives; continued increases in natural gas and other fuel costs of the Company; a weakening in industrial demand resulting from a decline in U.S. or world economic conditions caused by terrorist activities or other unanticipated events; future utilized capacity of the Company’s various facilities; a continuation of building and construction customers and distribution customers reducing their inventory levels and reducing the volume of the Company’s shipments; restrictions on and future levels and timing of capital expenditures; retention of the Company’s major customers; the timing and amounts of collections; currency exchange fluctuations; future write-downs or impairment charges which may be required because of the occurrence of some of the uncertainties listed above; and other risks listed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the Company’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2005, June 30, 2005 and September 30, 2005 and its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, particularly the sections entitled “Risk Factors” contained therein.