Talk of a reduction in the Bahrain Government’s ownership of the Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) smelter has resurfaced again.

Alba chairman Esam Fakhro told a local Arabic newspaper that there was a plan to sell up to 40 per cent of Alba in an initial public offering. Fakhro said the government, which owns 77 per cent, had not yet decided on a timetable.
Saudi Arabia owns 20 per cent of Alba, and German group Breton Investments owns 3 per cent.
The government holding firm and the finance ministry, which will be responsible for the sale, said it was too early to give a more exact size for the stake that would be offered in the IPO. Alba produces 830,000 tonnes per year of aluminium.
“The expected percentage of the firm to be offered by the government will be roughly 30 to 40 per cent, but no timeline has yet been set,” Al Waqt newspaper quoted Fakhro as saying.
Fakhro also said Alba was going to expand in response to increasing aluminium consumption, which he said was growing at 4 per cent a year. The newspaper did not give further details.
A couple of years ago, the possibility was voiced that the international aluminium producer Alcoa would take as much as 26 per cent of Alba’s shareholdng, thereby reducing by that much the ownership of the Bahraini government in the smelter. Negotiations were conducted but were stalled by the end of 2005.
Alba has also indicated it is interested in buying a stake in a foreign smelter or an alumina refinery.
Caption (pic emailed under Alba)
The smelter is making a foray into privatisation