Aluminium foiled

11 March 2003

The court s decision may determine whether Corus faces a rescue rights issue or a debtforequity swap. The metals group is taking its Dutch supervisory board to court in an effort to force the sale through.

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Corus's sale of aluminium assets to Pechiney was thrown into turmoil on Tuesday after the group's Dutch supervisory board rejected the E750m deal.

The AngloDutch metals group will appeal the decision in an Amsterdam court in a lastditch effort to force the sale through. It expects a decision on Thursday.

The aluminium assets, which belonged to Hoogovens before its merger with British Steel, are held by a Dutch subsidiary of Corus. The Dutch supervisory board owes a duty of care to this subsidiary's employees and investors. Selling the profitable aluminium business would expose the wider Corus group to losses in its UK steel operations.

Should the sale not proceed, the group will need to look afresh for finance from equity and debt providers, Corus said.

In the meantime, discussions are well advanced to extend the group‘s current banking facilities until 31 May 2004, and discussions are also taking place to renew these facilities for the medium term.

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