US sues to prevent Aditya Birla group subsidiary's acquisition of Aleris

The US Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Novelis, a major aluminium company fully owned by India's Aditya Birla Group, seeking to stop it from acquiring rival player Aleris over concern that the proposed USD 2.6 billion acquisition would create a monopoly in the aluminium industry.

A defiant Novelis asserted that it will challenge the lawsuit and is going ahead with its proposed acquisition of Aleris Corporation.

Atlanta-headquarters Novelis is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Ltd of the Aditya Birla Group. Aleris is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Department of Justice said in a statement that it has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the proposed transaction in order to preserve competition in the North American market for rolled aluminum sheet for automotive applications, commonly referred to as aluminum auto body sheet.

However, Novelis president and CEO Steve Fisher said, "Our merger with Aleris threatens no one, and to the contrary will strengthen our ability to compete against steel, meet growing customer demand for aluminum, achieve our recycling goals, and bolster our sustainability platform worldwide,"