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Gold/Mining/Energy : Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE:AA) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ALTERN8 who wrote (24)	3/14/2000 6:28:00 PM
From: Educator	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 67

Hi ALTERN8- Alcoa is getting larger and larger. It won't be long before the stock price is back in the 70s. The Street just did their typical sell-off with the acquiring stock. Alcoa is on a shark attack to be sure. Other aluminum companies must be shaking in their boots. My spouse says that the Reynolds deal is being frowned on overseas. She is hearing that the deal is in jeopardy. I don't think they will have any problem. AA will do what is necessary to get the deal to pass. AA is looking even more attractive. I may have to buy some more myself. Below is the Cordant story. Ed FOCUS-Alcoa to acquire aerospace supplier Cordant (New throughout) By David Morgan PHILADELPHIA, March 14 (Reuters) - Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) said on Tuesday it would acquire Cordant Technologies Inc. (NYSE: CDD) for $2.3 billion, giving the world's largest aluminum company a stronger presence in aerospace and automotives, plus new access to the burgeoning market for industrial gas turbines. The acquisition of the aerospace and industrial technology company would boost Alcoa revenues to $23.5 billion from $16.3 billion when added to Alcoa's pending merger with Reynolds Metals Co. (NYSE: RLM), keeping the Pittsburgh-based metals giant on track to become a $40 billion company within the next four years. "This gives us access to new markets. It offers opportunities to globalize their products. It offers us complementary products in the same markets," Alcoa Chief Executive Alain Belda said on a conference call with Wall Street analysts. "We're really happy with where we are on this." Under the terms of the deal, which are subject to approval by regulators and Cordant shareholders, Alcoa would start a $57-per-share cash tender offer on Monday for Cordant's 40 million fully diluted common shares. Alcoa also would assume $685 million in debt, bringing the transaction's overall value to $2.9 billion. Shares in Cordant advanced 25-7/8 to 55-7/8 on the New York Stock Exchange after the deal became public, while Alcoa shares slipped 6-5/16 to 61-3/4 in NYSE composite trading. Belda said he expected $125 million in pre-tax cost savings from operating synergies and new efficiencies, with 70 percent of savings expected to materialize in the first year. Salt Lake City-based Cordant generates $2.5 billion in annual revenues from three market-leading business groups that employ 17,000 workers at 58 facilities in the United States, Canada, France, Britain and Japan. Over the past five years, the company has managed to generate 49 percent annual growth in operating income, while revenues have advanced 8 percent. Cordant's business operations include Huck Fasteners, the global designer of high-performance fasteners and fastening systems, and rocket propulsion systems maker Thiokol Propulsions, with combined annual sales of over $1 billion. But the jewel in the Cordant crown is its 85 percent stake in Howmet International Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of precision investment castings for jet aircraft and industrial gas turbine engines. "This is the technology that will help us move forward," said Belda, adding that Alcoa would initiate talks to acquire the 15 percent of Howmet that Cordant does not already own. Howmet stock rose 1-3/8 to 19-7/8 in NYSE composite trading after the Alcoa CEO's remarks. Alcoa, which expects to have a $1.5 billion aerospace business after the Cordant acquisition, hopes Howmet will bring closer ties with European aircraft maker, Airbus Industrie , through its business in both new-generation and after-market jet engine components. Belda also said Howmet would significantly exhance Alcoa's ability to offer car makers new aluminum, magnesium and titanium "critical items" for auto engine cradles and suspension systems. Cordant CEO James Wilson acknowledged buoyant demand for gas turbines had helped his company weather a 12 percent drop in fastener sales in a softening aircraft market. About one-quarter of Cordant revenues come from turbines. Wilson said the company's aerospace fasteners business could be expected to turn around later this year in anticipation of an upswing in demand for new aircraft in 2002 and 2003.