Aluminium products maker Constellium NV said on Friday it is to acquire U.S. peer Wise Metals for $1.4 billion, including debt, in a deal aimed at tapping into fast-growing demand from car makers for aluminium sheet.Constellium had announced earlier this year its entry into the automotive sheet market in the United States, pitching itself against larger rivals Alcoa Inc and Novelis Inc in a race to be suppliers for a new generation of light-weight vehicles.Wise Metals, a major supplier of aluminium for beverage cans, is not currently in the automotive sheet segment and Constellium said it plans to develop 200,000 tonnes of finishing capacity for body-in-white (BiW), or car body, sheet at the U.S. firm.Constellium plans to invest $750 million by 2022 to create the new auto capacity and bring Wise's total hot mill capacity to over 700,000 tonnes from 450,000 tonnes currently, it said.
Alcoa Inc. (Alcoa) is engaged in lightweight metals, products and solutions. Shares of AA fell by 2.17% or $-0.34/share to $15.36. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $7.82 and as high as $17.36. On average, 17323500 shares of AA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 25182332.