Cia Brasileira de Aluminio

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What it is

CBA runs the full aluminum chain — mining bauxite, refining it to alumina, smelting to molten metal, and rolling it into sheets, billets, foil, and structural profiles — and also owns and operates hydroelectric power plants. That last piece matters: power is aluminum’s biggest cost, and generating your own hydro electricity is a rare structural advantage in a commodity industry.

The company operates across the complete value chain, from bauxite extraction through alumina refining to finished aluminum production, powered by a network comprising 23 hydroelectric facilities and multiple wind installations. Production capacity stood at 360,000 tonnes of aluminum per year in 2024.

Who owns it

CBA’s controlling shareholder agreed to sell its entire stake in the company to a consortium led by Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) alongside Rio Tinto, transferring control of one of Brazil’s largest aluminum companies in a transaction valued at about R$4.7bn (US$915 mn). The joint venture is structured with 67% held by a Chinalco subsidiary and 33% by Rio Tinto.

Brazil’s antitrust authority CADE gave unconditional approval on March 12, 2026 — without imposing behavioral conditions, structural remedies, or ongoing monitoring obligations. Approvals from competition authorities in China, Germany, South Korea, and Uruguay, plus Brazil’s energy regulator ANEEL, are still required before the deal closes.

Completion depends on regulatory approvals in Brazil and abroad; the transaction also underscores a broader strategic shift at Votorantim, a group whose roots date back to 1918 and which remains controlled by the Ermírio de Moraes family. Votorantim has increasingly retreated from heavy industrial businesses, reallocating capital toward less cyclical and more globally scalable activities.

The deal covers 446.6 million shares, equivalent to 68.6% of the company’s total and voting capital, at a base price of R$10.50 (US$2)per share. The remaining ~19.4% is held by institutional investors and ~12.2% by other institutions (per EODHD), with a free float of roughly 31%.

Who runs it

CEO Luciano Alves, previously the CFO, took the top job from Ricardo Carvalho in May 2023; at the same time, general manager Camila Abel was promoted to CFO. Both appointments were made by securities filing, meaning Brazil’s regulator CVM recorded them officially.

The money, in plain words

CBA sells roughly R$8.8bn (US$1.7 bn) (~$1.7bn) of aluminum products a year — serving automotive, building and construction, energy, agribusiness, consumer goods, packaging, and transportation industries. Revenue grew about 19.6% from 2023 to 2025 (our calculation), mostly on recovering aluminum prices rather than volume alone.

The profit recovery, though, is fragile: the company keeps only about 1.4 cents of profit from every real of sales — a net margin of 1.4% (our calculation), thin by any standard — after a net loss in 2024 of R$181m (US$35 mn) (~$35m) and a brutal R$908m (US$177 mn) (~$177m) loss in 2023. The price-to-earnings ratio of 56.6× tells you the market is pricing in much better earnings ahead, not the current slim result.

The balance sheet carries R$4.41bn (US$858 mn) (~$858m) of gross debt against R$1.26bn (US$245 mn) (~$245m) of cash — a net debt of R$3.15bn (US$613 mn) (~$614m, our calculation). That leverage, at roughly 2.97× operating earnings before non-cash charges, was constraining CBA’s ability to fund large expansion projects, including the Projeto Rondon bauxite mine in Pará state, which would require around US$2.5bn of investment.

That constraint is part of why Votorantim chose to sell.

What it is doing now

Once the deal closes, the Chinalco-Rio Tinto joint venture will launch a mandatory tender offer to buy out the remaining listed shares — a process expected to require around another R$2.1bn (US$409 mn) (~$409m) — which would take CBA off the stock exchange entirely. Minority shareholders will receive the same R$10.50 (US$2)base price per share, adjusted for interest accrued since the signing date.

For Chinalco, the deal is an entry into Latin America and access to an integrated bauxite-to-product chain; for Rio Tinto, it is a low-carbon aluminum platform powered by renewables, aligned with its global strategy in the sector.

What to watch

• Remaining regulatory approvals: clearance from Chinese, German, South Korean, and Uruguayan competition authorities, plus ANEEL, all still pending — any one of them could delay or complicate closing.
• Tender offer price: whether the mandatory offer for the minority shares stays at R$10.50 (US$2)or is adjusted upward before closing is the key event for current public investors.
• Projeto Rondon: the new owners’ willingness to commit US$2.5bn to expand the bauxite mine in Pará will signal how aggressively they plan to grow versus simply owning a cash-flowing asset.
• Margins: a net margin of 1.4% leaves almost no room for error; any rise in energy costs or fall in global aluminum prices could push the company back into loss.

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This is news, not investment advice.