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Howmet Aerospace

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Howmet Aerospace Inc.
FormerlyAlcoa Inc.,
Arconic Inc.
Company typePublic
ISINUS4432011082
IndustryAerospace
Founded1888; 136 years ago (1888) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., (as Alcoa Inc.)
Headquarters,
U.S.
Key people
RevenueIncrease US$6.64 billion (2023)[1]
Increase US$1.20 billion (2023)[1]
Increase US$765 million (2023)[1]
Total assetsIncrease US$10.4 billion (2023)[1]
Total equityIncrease US$4.04 billion (2023)[1]
Number of employees
23,200 (2023)[1]
Websitehowmet.com

Howmet Aerospace Inc. is an American aerospace company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company manufactures components for jet engines, fasteners, titanium structures for aerospace applications, and forged aluminum wheels for heavy trucks.[2]

The firm operates 27 facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, the UK, China, Brazil, Hungary and Japan.

History

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Before Alcoa acquisition

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Howmet's roots go back to 1926, when Austenal, a company that manufactured materials for dental appliances, was founded. Its founders, Reiner Erdle and Charles Prange, worked to improve investment chrome base castings using two separate investments: The first coating, named "protective coat", gives a smooth finish. It was smothered with alcohol binder investment to obtain a correct expansion. This technology replaced gold alloy with vitallium and was popular during the Great Depression.

During the 1930s, Austenal expanded into aircraft engine superchargers with superior castings when General Electric asked for help to improve manufacturing practices for wartime production demands.

In 1958, Howe Sound Company, a metals and mining business, acquired Austenal. In 1959, Howe acquired Michigan Steel Casting Co. (MISCO), which provided the monolithic shell process. This process uses a ceramic shell with thin, strong walls to increase control of the solidification process and produce a sounder casting.

Howe became Howmet in 1965, marking a transition from a mining company to a manufacturer of precision metal products. Howmet, in turn, was purchased in 1975 by Pechiney, a multinational aluminum company. In 1989, Pechiney purchased the Cercast group of companies, bringing Howmet into the aluminum casting industry.

In 1995, Pechiney sold Howmet to a joint venture between Thiokol and The Carlyle Group. By late 1997, the ownership structure of Howmet had become Thiokol, with 62% ownership, Carlyle 23%, and the public 15%. In 1998, Thiokol changed its name to Cordant Technologies Inc.; by February 1999, Cordant owned 84.7% of Howmet.

As Alcoa Inc. and Arconic Inc.

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In 2000, Cordant sold its stake in Howmet to Alcoa, which placed Howmet into its Alcoa Industrial Components unit. In 2004, Howmet was part of a merger that created Alcoa Investment Casting and Forged Products unit. In 2007, Howmet was renamed Alcoa Howmet as a newly formed Alcoa Power and Propulsion unit division.

On November 1, 2016, Alcoa Inc. spun off its bauxite, alumina, and aluminum operations to a new company called Alcoa Corp.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Alcoa Inc. was renamed Arconic Inc.,[9][10][11] and retained the operations in aluminum rolling (excluding the Warrick operations), aluminum plate, precision castings, and aerospace and industrial fasteners.[6][7][8][12][13] Its focus became turning aluminum and other lightweight metals into engineered products such as turbine blades for sectors including aerospace and automotive.[14][15][16]

On January 31, 2017, the hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation launched a proxy contest against Arconic. Elliott publicly called for firing Arconic's CEO, Klaus Kleinfeld, citing the company's lackluster stock performance, missed profit forecasts, and inefficient spending.[17] On April 17, 2017, Kleinfeld resigned as chairman and CEO by mutual agreement with the board of Arconic, after sending an unauthorized letter to Elliott.[18]

On February 8, 2019, Arconic announced that it would split into two separate businesses.[19] Arconic Inc. would be renamed Howmet Aerospace Inc. and a new company, Arconic Corporation, would be set up and spun out. Arconic Corporation will be focused on rolled aluminum products, and Howmet Aerospace will focus on engineered products.[20] The separation was scheduled to become effective on April 1, 2020.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Howmet Aerospace Inc. 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 13, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  2. ^ "Markets & Product Lines | Howmet Aerospace". Howmet.com. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  3. ^ DIETZ, MARGREET. "While you were sleeping: UPDATED Oil report lifts US stocks". NBR. NBR. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Abigail. "Cramer Remix: A surprising outlook for earnings". CNBC. CNBC. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  5. ^ Deaux, Joe. "One Down, Two to Go for Alcoa as S&P Signals No Junk for Arconic". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Alcoa Inc. Board of Directors Approves Separation of Company". Alcoa. Alcoa Inc. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Arconic sells 60 percent stake in Alcoa for $890 million". Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Dubious Corporate Practices Get a Rubber Stamp From Big Investors". Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  9. ^ Mekeel, Tim. "Alcoa spinoff to be named Arconic, to include Manheim Pike plant". LancasterOnline. LancasterOnline. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  10. ^ Boselovic, Len. "New Alcoa company christened Arconic". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  11. ^ Hackett, Robert. "Meet Arconic: Alcoa's Spinoff Aerospace and Auto Firm". Fortune. Fortune. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  12. ^ MILLER, JOHN W. "Alcoa Spinoff Arconic to Focus on Aerospace, Auto". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  13. ^ Hall, Jason. "Alcoa Inc Takes Steps Forward in Plans to Split". The Motley Fool. The Motley Fool. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  14. ^ Kinahan, JJ. "Alcoa Results Forecast to Drop Ahead of Company Split". Forbes. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  15. ^ Denning, Liam. "Alcoa's Long Division Problem". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  16. ^ Deaux, Joe. "Alcoa Processing Unit to Be Named 'Arconic' After Split". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  17. ^ BENOIT, DAVID. "AInside the Activist Battle That Felled Arconic's Klaus Kleinfeld". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Arconic CEO Klaus Kleinfeld steps down". The Wall Street Journal. April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  19. ^ Cornell, Joe. "Arconic To Split Into Two Separate Companies". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  20. ^ Mericle, Julia (2019-08-02). "Arconic is splitting into two: Here's what the new companies will be named". Pittsburgh Business Times.
  21. ^ "Arconic Inc. Board of Directors Approves Separation of Company". WSJ. February 6, 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-31.


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  • Official website
  • Business data for Howmet Aerospace Inc.: