Kaiser To Purchase Two Reynolds Plants

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. Thursday announced plans to buy a pair of Reynolds Metals Co. aluminum factories to complement products made by the Kaiser Trentwood factory in the Valley.

Houston-based Kaiser, which employs 2,600 people at the Mead smelter and Trentwood rolling mill, said it has signed a letter of intent to buy Reynold’s plate sheet plant in McCook, Ill., and an extrusion plant in Bellwood, Va.

The deal is expected to close before June 30, pending regulatory and board approval.

Kaiser officials said operations at the two Reynolds plants will continue at existing levels. They also promised no change in Spokane’s production levels because of the acquisitions.

“This transaction probably strengthens the position of both (Trentwood and McCook) plants in the heat-treat business,” said Scott Lamb, Kaiser’s investor relations officer. “The heat-treat market is very attractive to us.”

Kaiser annually ships about 100 million pounds of light-gauge, heat-treated products to the aerospace industry and others, Lamb said.

The McCook plant produces about one-third that amount of heavygauge, heat-treated products, which have higher tolerances against metal fatigue.

, DataTimes