Oct. 27 (NBD) -- China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd, the world's second-largest producer of industrial aluminium extrusion products, said on Thursday it had acquired a controlling stake in the Australian superyacht builder Silver Yachts. Lu Changqing, CEO of Zhongwang, regarded the acquisition as a significant step to expand the company's presence to the high-end marine sector.

After the acquisition is closed, day-to-day operations for SilverYachts will remain unchanged. And Zhongwang will assist them to establish an additional shipyard in China to build superyachts as well as commercial vessels customized for the growing Asian market. Guido Alexander Krass, founder of Silver Yatchs, noted that they have already made plans to expand the operation teams both in Australia and China.

It's the second international acquisition for Zhongwang within the last three months. In September, Zhongwang acquired Aleris, a global leader in the manufacturing and sales of aluminum rolled products.

Lu introduced at an news conference that in the past 20 years, Zhongwang has been specialized in the manufacturing and selling aluminium alloys, and the application of industrial aluminum alloys will remain the focus of the company. In the future, China Zhongwang will continue to expand our businesses by investing in the traffic sector, Lu said.

Zeng Libin, the president of China Aluminum Association said that the acquisition is another signal of Chinese enterprises entering the high-end aluminum market, which is good for the development of the whole aluminum industrial chain. Aluminum products can be used in many ways, but how to integrate with upstream and downstream industries would the key to success, Zeng added.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn