The acquisition of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation by DADA Holdings LLC for US$24.4 million has resulted in more than 800 jobs being saved in Jamaica.

Announcing the acquisition, Finance Minister Audley Shaw pointed out that under the bankruptcy court proceedings in which Noranda had been put up for auction, the local company was at the point of closure when DADA stepped in with an offer to purchase the company as well as assume the outstanding liabilities owed by Noranda to the Government, employees and to contractors.

Under the agreement, Noranda will pay out outstanding liabilities amounting to US$19 million to Jamaica over the next three years, while the Government will be abandoning the bauxite levy in favour of a profit-sharing arrangement with the new owners.

“We are now going to be sharing 17.3 per cent ownership in the parent company, which is producing alumina at Gramercy in the United States,” Shaw said.

The local operation, which has the capacity to produce up to 5.2 million metric tonnes of premium-grade bauxite annually, will now be run by a new company, Noranda/New Day Jamaica Ltd.

Recently, Shaw, Mining Minister Mike Henry, and a large number of staff, union delegates and contractors officially welcomed the new company at a function at the Noranda sports complex in Discovery Bay.

The function was also attended by DADA’s owner and Chief Executive Officer David D’Addario, General Manager Antoine Liddell, Chairman of Jamaica Bauxite Mining (JBM) Ambassador Cliff Stone, Managing Director of JBM Coy Roach, and representatives of the Ministry of Mining.

Highlight of the ceremony was the formal announcement by the ministers and D’Addario that the partnership with the Government of Jamaica has been extended to a historic first-time twinning relationship between the local company and its alumina refinery at Gramercy, Louisiana.

The official welcome ceremony was preceded by an employee communication meeting at which D’Addario, accompanied by DADA executives Tom Robb and Monte Schaefer, shared information with employees on the acquisition of the company. This included the commitment to pay certain obligations deferred by Noranda such as levy and taxes, employee redundancy obligations, contractor payment obligations, and delayed incentive payments to employees carried over from the fourth quarter of 2015. Employees also participated in a question and answer session with the CEO.

Shaw, in his address, said that the subsequent agreements between the Government and the new company to introduce the profit-sharing structure with the alumina refinery at Gramercy, has met the primary objectives of the Government, which were to save and create more jobs in Jamaica’s bauxite industry, and to participate in a more sustainable partnership model which allows the Government a share of profits gained from further processing of bauxite mined in Jamaica, at the Gramercy plant.

Both Shaw and Minister Henry commended the bauxite operations in St Ann for their record of good corporate citizenship in areas of education and community development.

Henry was particular impressed with what he described as “Noranda’s outstanding work in introducing greenhouse technology to farmers on restored mined-out lands in St Ann”.

D’Addario said that he was proud to be in partnership with Jamaica and congratulated the Government on their vision and creativity as they joined with DADA to make the company more sustainable and productive.

He also commended the employees for their loyalty, safety awareness, and hard work to keep the company operating during a difficult and challenging period, and committed DADA to working with Jamaica to maintain a strong, efficient and competitive partnership.