Corus, the Anglo-Dutch steel manufacturer, will soon announce that it plans to sell its aluminium operations. Corus could secure up to £400m from the sale. Sual and RusAl, the Russian aluminium producers, are potential buyers for the division. Alcoa, the US aluminium producer, and Novelis, the Canadian metals business, are also possible buyers. The development comes in the wake of talk that Russian and US groups were considering a bid for Corus. Analysts tipped NLMK, Severstal and Evraz, the Russian metal producers, and US Steel, Corus' US-listed counterpart, as potential bidders for Corus. Thyssenkrupp, the listed German steelmaker, recently said it was not in discussions to acquire Corus. ThyssenKrupp is thought to be monitoring the situation. Corus has a market capitalization of $5.72bn. Philippe Varin, Corus' chief executive officer, owns approximately 1.1 million shares in Corus and will be entitled to a further 1.1 million in two months' time.
