Arconic

Corporate development

On November 1, 2016, Alcoa Inc. spun off its bauxite, alumina, and aluminium operations to a new company called Alcoa Corp. After that, Alcoa Inc. was renamed Arconic Inc., keeping operations in aluminium rolling (excluding the Warrick operations), aluminium plate, precision castings, and aerospace and industrial fasteners.

Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic's CEO at the time of the Alcoa split, stepped down in April 2017. Arconic's board said he had displayed poor judgment in unauthorised interactions with activist shareholder Elliott Management (he sent a letter to Elliott founder Paul Singer making threatening insinuations about an incident involving "a Native American feather headdress and a rendition of 'Singin’ in the Rain' performed in a fountain" during a trip to the 2006 World Cup). After what the New York Times called a "Bruising and Public Dispute", Elliott was subsequently given three seats on Arconic's main board.

The company focuses on turning aluminium and other lightweight metals into engineered products such as turbine blades for sectors including aerospace and automotive. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ARNC ticker.

In July 2018, Arconic announced a two-year joint development agreement with aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin, focused on technologies like metal 3D printing to produce new lightweight structures and systems, and a new long-term contract to supply aluminium products to Boeing.

On February 6, 2019, Arconic replaced CEO Chip Blankenship. His departure came two weeks after Arconic announced it was backed out of a sale to Apollo Global Management, a decision that sent Arconic shares tumbling, and put pressure on Arconic to make internal improvements. Two days later, on February 8, 2019, Arconic Inc. announced that it would split into two separate businesses. Arconic Inc. would be renamed Howmet Aerospace Inc. and a new company, Arconic Corporation, would be set up and spun out tax free from Arconic Inc. The new Arconic Corporation would be focused on rolled aluminium products and Howmet Aerospace on engineered products. The separation was completed effective April 1, 2020.