Arconic
| Company type | Public (until 2023), now private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Industrial, Aerospace, Automotive, Packaging, Oil and Gas, Construction, Defense, Commercial Transportation, Consumer Electronics |
| Predecessor | Arconic Inc. |
| Founded | April 1, 2020 |
| Fate | Acquired by Apollo Global Management (2023) |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh , United States |
Key people | Chris Ayers (CEO, from September 11, 2023) |
| Products | Lightweight metal components, rolled aluminum products |
Number of employees | Approximately 860 (in China facilities planned for sale in 2024) |
| Parent | Apollo Global Management |
Arconic Corporation is a U.S.-based industrial enterprise specializing in the engineering and production of lightweight metal solutions. Its offerings cater to a broad range of sectors worldwide, including aerospace, automotive, packaging, oil and gas, construction and building, defense, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, and various industrial applications.
The Arconic brand originated in 2016 following the division of Alcoa Inc. into two entities: Alcoa Corporation and Arconic Inc. Subsequently, in 2020, Arconic Inc. underwent a further split, resulting in Howmet Aerospace Inc., which concentrates on engineered products, and Arconic Corporation, which focuses on rolled aluminum goods. On August 18, 2023, private equity firm Apollo Global Management finalized its purchase of Arconic.
In 2024, the official investigation into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed 72 lives, identified Arconic’s cladding as the predominant factor contributing to the tragedy. The inquiry revealed that the company had concealed known fire hazards; Claude Schmidt, then president of Arconic, acknowledged that UK safety certification was obtained through what he described as a "misleading half-truth."
Corporate development
On November 1, 2016, Alcoa Inc. divested its bauxite, alumina, and aluminum production operations to form a new entity named Alcoa Corp.. Following this transaction, Alcoa Inc. was rebranded as Arconic Inc., retaining divisions involved in aluminum rolling (except for Warrick operations), aluminum plate manufacturing, precision casting, as well as aerospace and industrial fasteners.
Klaus Kleinfeld, who served as CEO of Arconic during the spin-off, resigned in April 2017 amid unauthorized communications with activist investor Elliott Management. After a public confrontation, Elliott secured three positions on Arconic’s board of directors.
Arconic’s core business revolves around designing lightweight metal components such as turbine blades utilized in aerospace and automotive industries. The company was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARNC.
In July 2018, Arconic entered into a two-year collaborative development agreement with aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin, focusing on advancing metal 3D printing technologies for lightweight structural applications. Simultaneously, it secured a long-term aluminum supply contract with Boeing.
On February 6, 2019, CEO Chip Blankenship was replaced after Arconic withdrew from a proposed sale to Apollo Global Management—a move that negatively affected stock prices and intensified calls for internal restructuring. Two days later, the company announced plans to split into two separate businesses: one entity retained the name Howmet Aerospace Inc., concentrating on engineered products; the other was established as Arconic Corporation to focus on rolled aluminum products. This division was finalized on April 1, 2020.
Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, Arconic implemented several cost-reduction strategies including salary reductions for directors and senior executives, workforce adjustments, temporary shutdowns of facilities in Tennessee and New York, scaled-back production at U.S. plants, and comparable measures at sites across Europe, China, and Russia.
In November 2022, responding to sanctions linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Arconic divested its Russian operations to the owner of state-backed metals firm VSMPO-AVISMA for $230 million.
In May 2023, Apollo Global Management agreed to acquire Arconic in an all-cash transaction valued at $5.2 billion including debt. The acquisition was completed in August 2023 with Chris Ayers appointed as CEO effective September 11, 2023.
In January 2024, Arconic announced plans to sell its manufacturing facilities located in Qinhuangdao and Kunshan, China—employing roughly 860 staff—in a deal valued up to $300 million. This segment was considered small-scale relative to other business units and did not possess any critical intellectual property.
Grenfell Tower fire
The official investigation into the 2017 Grenfell Tower blaze identified Arconic's Reynobond PE rainscreen cladding as the main factor contributing to the tragedy that resulted in 72 fatalities. This cladding, installed during a refurbishment in 2016, became the focus of significant examination. In November 2020, four Arconic staff members based in France initially declined to provide testimony, invoking a 1968 French statute that limits evidence sharing in international legal cases. However, clarifications from the UK government and the French embassy established that this law was not applicable, prompting Arconic’s president Claude Schmidt to testify in February 2021. Schmidt conceded that understanding UK fire safety regulations was not his "priority," yet he denied intentionally hiding failed fire safety evaluations, although he acknowledged that Arconic’s omission to inform the British Board of Agrément constituted a "misleading half truth."
The inquiry report released in September 2024 labeled Arconic’s cladding as "extremely dangerous," uncovering that the company had been commissioning fire safety tests since 2005 and knowingly concealed associated hazards. The report concluded that Arconic exploited loopholes within regulatory frameworks in countries like the UK, marketing and distributing a product despite awareness of its serious risks. Arconic Architectural Products, the firm’s French subsidiary, refuted claims that it sold unsafe materials or deceived certification authorities and clients.
Discrimination suit
In May 2022, Daniel Snyder, a former employee at Arconic’s Riverdale facility, initiated a federal lawsuit alleging religious discrimination following his dismissal in June 2021. His termination came after he publicly opposed the company’s use of a rainbow symbol to commemorate Gay Pride Month on its internal communication platform. Represented by the Thomas More Society, Snyder’s case advanced to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in April 2024. In August 2024, his appeal was ultimately rejected.