History

Aleris is a relatively young company, formed at the end of 2004 through the merger of Commonwealth Industries, Inc. and IMCO Recycling, Inc. The merger created a vertically integrated aluminum company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, we have strengthened the business through organic growth and operational improvements, as well as strategic acquisitions. 

In 2006, we acquired Corus Group plc for $900 million, which doubled the Company’s size and significantly expanded its presence in Europe and China.   Between 2005 and 2008, $560 million of additional acquisitions were made.  In 2007, we sold a zinc business in order to focus on our core aluminum business.

Aleris was acquired by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) in December, 2006 and taken private.  

Then came the perfect storm of 2008 and 2009.  Our end markets declined significantly, volumes declined nearly 40% year-over-year, there was a precipitous decline in the London Metal Exchange aluminum price and cash flow turned negative.  On top of that, we faced heavy debt service from TPG.  The consequence?  Aleris filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.  We emerged from that process 15 months later on June 1, 2010, having completed its financial and operational restructuring.  TPG exited our business during this time and Aleris received significant support from new equity investors, led by majority-owner Oaktree.

Aleris is currently one of the best capitalized companies in the industry, with a strong balance sheet and little debt.  We are well positioned to benefit from long-term growth in the world’s aluminum consumption.