Baker McKenzie advised Rio Tinto on the US and Chinese antitrust aspects of its joint venture agreement with Giampaolo Group to manufacture and market recycled aluminum products. The transaction, announced in July, closed Nov. 24.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rio Tinto acquired a 50% equity stake in Giampaolo Group’s wholly-owned Matalco business for $700 million1 subject to usual closing adjustments.
The transaction reflects the joint venture partners’ shared commitment to meeting the increasing demand for low-carbon aluminum as a key material in the energy transition.
Matalco is a leading producer of high-quality recycled aluminum billet and slab products. It operates six facilities in the United States and one in Canada, with the capacity to produce approximately 900,000 tons of recycled aluminum per year.
Led by Creighton Macy, Chair of Baker McKenzie's North America Antitrust & Competition Practice, the Baker McKenzie team included Dan Graulich, Mark Weiss, Nandu Machiraju, Courtney Devore, Laura Liu, and Yu Zhu.
Learn more about the deal on Rio Tinto's website here.
Baker McKenzie's Antitrust & Competition practice is the largest in the world with more than 300 practitioners across 60 offices and 43 countries. The practice is consistently recognized as a global leader. It is ranked Band 2 in Chambers Global for 2023 and as the No. 5 Global Elite firm in Global Competition Review's 2023 list of premier competition practices, and was also rated by GCR as the No. 1 Cartels practice in the world. The US practice has grown rapidly in response to strong client demand, tripling in size in the last three years to 35+ lawyers.