New | Zhongwang says it’ll bring jobs stability to Aleris, hits back at US opposition to US$2.3 bln takeover

China Zhongwang Holdings, Asia’s largest producer of extruded aluminium bars and rods, said its proposed US$2.3 billion takeover of Aleris from private-equity funds will bring jobs stability and resources to its investment, and help it expand into the automotive and aerospace industries.

This week, a group of US senators led by Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), ranking member of the US Senate committee of finance overseeing trade, urged US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to review and reject Zhongwang’s takeover plan on national security grounds, Bloomberg reported, citing a letter signed by Wyden and his 11 colleagues.

“Chinese entities, including state-owned or state-controlled enterprises, may have relationships with China’s military, compounding the risk that U.S. technologies will fall into the wrong hands,” said the letter.

Aleris’ high-strength alloys manufacturing technology enabled by advanced modelling techniques, and its design of light armour material with enhanced ballistic performance are critical to long term US economic and national security interests, the letter said.

The opposition is not based on facts, said Amanda Xu, spokeswoman of Zhongwang USA.

“Contrary to what was stated in the senators’ letter, Zhongwang USA and the Zhongwang group of companies are neither state-owned nor state-controlled,” Xu told the South China Morning Post in a phone interview. “Zhongwang is a fully market driven company without any affiliation to any government.”