On November 30, 2023, Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. ("Rio Tinto") completed its previously announced agreement with Giampaolo Group ("Giampaolo") to form a joint venture to manufacture and market recycled aluminium products. As part of the agreement, Rio Tinto acquired a 50 percent equity stake in the Matalco business from Giampaolo for US$700 million, representing a total joint venture value of US$1.4 billion. Matalco will remain the operator of the joint venture’s six facilities in the United States and its Canadian site, which together have a capacity to produce approximately 900,000 tons of recycled aluminium per year.
Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Montreal, Quebec, is a global leader of aluminium mining and production.
Giampaolo Group, headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, is a metal management organization that operates in North America with expertise in scrap metal recycling, aluminum manufacturing, electronic recycling and reuse, and steel distribution.
Matalco, based in Brampton, Ontario, is an aluminum billet and slab manufacturer.
McCarthy Tétrault advised Rio Tinto with a team led by Shea Small that included Aathmika Kularatnam, Danyal Bajwa, Christopher Langdon, Ainslie Hurd, Samantha Pettinato, Mitchell Lui, Geena Lee, Sarah Chen, France Courtemanche (Business), Casey Halladay, Michael Caldecott, Alykhan Rahim (Competition, Foreign Investment Review), Sarit Pandya (Real Property & Planning), Patrick Pengelly, Alexander Steele, Nicole Deniset (Labour & Employment), Conrad Lee (Technology), Vincent Yip (Intellectual Property), Hartley Lefton, Daanish Pasricha (Insurance), Gregory Winfield, Kelleher Lynch, Tracy Solhi (Pension and Benefits), Ailbish Bruchet (Financial Services), Robert Glasgow, Gajan Sathananthan (Trade & Investment), Marie-Soleil Landry, Randy Schwartz, and Brendan Festeryga (Tax).