Manufacturing Alba and Ma’aden end merger discussions By Gavin Gibbon January 13, 2025, 1:32 PM Alba Alba, which was launched in 1971 and employs 3,200 people, is the oldest aluminium smelter in the Middle East Deadline had been extended Announcement on exchanges Mutual agreement to end talks Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) have ended talks over a merger of the two Gulf manufacturing giants. Discussions had been taking place since last year and it had been hoped that a deal could be completed in the first quarter of 2025, according to Alba’s chief executive, Ali Al Baqali. Last month it was announced that the deadline for a potential merger had been extended into the second quarter of the year to allow the two companies to have more time to carry out due diligence. But a note on both the Bahrain bourse and the Saudi stock exchange on Monday confirmed that any agreement was now off. It said the companies had “mutually agreed” to “discontinue the discussions regarding the proposed transaction”. The merger would have created the seventh largest aluminium manufacturer in the world. Bahrain’s Alba looking to Europe after Ma’aden deal Alba and Ma’aden delay merger to Q2 2025 Alba and Maaden plan global aluminium powerhouse “The sudden termination of discussions comes as a surprise, given that the deadline was extended to 2Q25 only recently,” the Riyadh-based market analysis company Sico Research said in a note. Alba, which was launched in 1971 and employs 3,200 people, is the oldest aluminium smelter in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world outside of China. It is Bahrain’s largest listed company, with a market valuation of close to BHD2 billion ($5.3 billion). The company is 69.4 percent-owned by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co (Mumtalakat) and 20.6 percent by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic). Under the draft terms of the agreement, Ma’aden would have given Ma’aden Aluminium Company and Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Company to Alba, which would issue new shares to Ma’aden. In December, shareholders of Ma’aden approved a share purchase agreement to acquire Sabic’s entire stake in Alba, with the transaction valued in the region of $1 billion. Profits up Alba reported a third-quarter profit of BHD54.5 million, up from BHD17.3 million in the previous year as revenue rose eight percent to BHD433.5 million while costs fell slightly. Its shares were trading at BD1.16 on Monday morning, down by almost 10 percent. The London Metal Exchange’s aluminium price, an industry benchmark, averaged $2,383 per tonne in the third quarter, up 11 percent year on year, according to Alba. Ma’aden, 67 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), made a third-quarter profit of SAR971.5 million ($258.6 million), a turnaround from a net loss of SAR83.4 million a year earlier. Its subsidiary Ma’aden Aluminium Co’s nine-month sales were a little over SAR1 billion, while Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Co’s were SAR5 million. The two units owe SAR5.65 billion combined to the PIF. Ma’aden’s shares were down oner percent at SAR47.55 on Monday morning.