Macquarie analysts have weighed into the debate on Alumina and whether it is susceptible to a bid from its biggest shareholder CITIC Group or another party.
"We also reiterate our opinion that AWC is not a takeover target at current trading prices given a lack of strategic need for the AWAC assets," the analysts told clients on Wednesday morning.
"Even though the concessions gained through the Alcoa separation have removed the restrictive provisions on bauxite and alumina off-take in a takeover scenario, we note that only Mubadala and Hongqiao currently have a strategic need for bauxite and alumina, and both players have already sunk significant capital into building their own refining capacity."
The comments come as fund managers run the ruler over the $5 billion Alumina, which owns a 40 per cent stake in Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals.
The small Australian partner of US giant Alcoa will get a bigger say in its operations and is arguably more attractive as a takeover target following a restructure at Alcoa and its AWAC joint venture deal with Alumina.
The previous joint venture deal contained "exclusivity" clauses that prevented either partner from operating bauxite or alumina assets outside the joint venture.
The clauses were binding even if one of the partners was acquired by a third party.
But the new deal will see those exclusivity clauses lapse if there is a "change of control", such as a takeover for one of the partners.
