Clyde & Co has advised Liberty House, the industrial arm of the GFG Alliance, on its binding offer for Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelter, the largest in Europe, in Dunkirk, France.

If successful, Liberty House's binding offer to acquire the French smelter from Rio Tinto would form GFG’s first significant step into continental Europe. The offer triggers a statutory consultation with employees and other stakeholders.

Liberty House plans to invest two billion euros in the Dunkirk site, to build an auto components factory to process the aluminium into a higher-value added product.

Clyde & Co's team advised on the transaction from the outset, including in relation to deal structuring and the full suite of offer documents. In December 2016, Clyde & Co also advised GFG on their £330million deal with Rio Tinto to buy Britain's last remaining aluminium smelter at Fort William in Lochaber, together with the iconic hydro-power plants at Fort William and Kinlochleven, and associated estate lands.

The Clyde & Co team which advised on the deal was led by partner Richard Elks alongside corporate relationship partner Simon Vere Nicoll, head of tax Ray Smith, and was supported by Jean-Michel Reversac in Paris. Rio Tinto were advised by Dentons. Cazals Manzo Pichot provided French tax advice to Liberty House.

    Partner Richard Elks said, “We're delighted to have worked with Liberty House on this significant investment. If successfully completed, the deal could lead to the creation of thousands of jobs in Dunkirk and in the wider French economy. It's great news for the region."

Over the last 12 months Clyde & Co's transactional teams, led by Simon Vere Nicoll and supported by partners across the firm including Richard Elks, Ray Smith, Andrew Foster (restructuring), Mark Howard (pensions), Vikram Sidhu (US corporate), Adam Taylor-Smith (real estate), Nick Dent (employment) and Mike Swangard (dispute resolution), has advised GFG on a number of acquisitions. Some of the most significant deals include:

    Advising on the £100m acquisition of the speciality steel business of Tata Steel in May 2017 and subsequently of Tata's saw mills in Hartlepool.
    Advising on the acquisitions of Amtek UK and Caparo Merchant Bar plc in June 2017.
    Advising on the purchase in Georgetown steelworks in South Carolina from ArcelorMittal.