Jamalco likely to be most valuable of Noble Group’s remaining physical assets
London — When Noble Group sits down with bondholders this week for crisis talks to restructure about $3.5bn in debt, a business in Jamaica whose history goes back to the days of commodities legend Marc Rich, will play a crucial role. The Jamaican alumina plant, called Jamalco, is likely to be the most valuable of Noble’s remaining physical assets following the sale of its global oil and gas trading businesses. Thanks to a 50% surge in the price of alumina — long an unloved commodity in a struggling industry — it’s also generating cash that is helping to keep the company afloat. "The bulk of the good assets have been sold. There’s not much left honestly besides Jamalco," said Jean-Francois Lambert, a consultant and former head of global commodity trade finance at HSBC. "This asset is likely to attract some interest." For Noble, Jamalco offers the possibility of raising cash via a sale — a plan that has already been flagged by Noble chairperson Paul Brough. But it could be used as par...
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