HOUSTON, April 5, 2011: BP today announced that it has agreed the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, ARCO Aluminum Inc. to a special purpose vehicle incorporated by a consortium of Japanese companies. ARCO Aluminum is a supplier of rolled aluminum sheet, used primarily in the production of beverage cans.
Under the terms of the agreement the consortium - comprised of Sumitomo Light Metal Industries, Ltd. (40 per cent), Furukawa Sky Aluminum Corp. (35 per cent), Sumitomo Corporation (20 per cent), Itochu Corporation (2 per cent), and Itochu Metals Corporation (3 per cent) - will pay BP $680 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments. Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the parties expect to complete the transaction in the third quarter of 2011. Morgan Lewis advised BP on the transaction.
The Morgan Lewis team on the deal was led by David Asmus (leader of the firm's Energy Transactions practice, who is based in Houston) and Kimberly Taylor (Business & Finance partner, based in Pittsburgh), along with Tax partner Paul Gordon (based in Philadelphia), Employee Benefits partner Erin Turley (based in Dallas), and Finance Partner Terry Dugan (based in New York). They were assisted by associates Melissa Mares (in Pittsburgh), Joe Roger and Jason Lawhorn (both based in Houston).