Chalco to Sell Stakes in Four Units to Investors Including China Life, ICBC

Aluminum Corp. of China (2600.HK) unveiled a CNY12.6 billion ($1.9 billion) restructuring deal involving four of its units, in a bid to reduce its debt burden.

Chalco, a state-owned aluminum producer, said after markets closed Monday that four of its wholly-owned units--Chalco Shandong Co., Chalco Zhongzhou Aluminum Co., Baotou Aluminum Co. and Chalco Mining Co.--will sell shares to a group of investors, reducing Chalco's stake in the units to 69.2%, 63.1%, 74.3% and 18.9%, respectively.

The group of investors includes China Life Insurance Co., Huarong Ruitong Equity Investment Management Co., China Cinda Asset Management Co., BOC Financial Asset Investment Co., ICBC Financial Asset Investment Co., China Pacific Life Insurance Co. and ABC Financial Asset Investment Co., Chalco said.

Other state-owned companies have moved to restructure, including mobile operator China Unicom Group, coal miner China Shenhua Energy Co. (1088.HK) and Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. (1919.HK), as Beijing seeks to strengthen its key state-owned firms.

The Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed aluminum producer expected the deal to reduce its finance costs by about CNY700 million a year, leading to an additional CNY300 million in net profit for the company.

Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2017 19:54 ET (00:54 GMT)