On saving a deal

Singer sees an Arconic path: sources

Aluminum giant Arconic is moving to give bidders more time to fashion offers for its closely watched auction as it tries to make them more comfortable with financial liabilities related to the fatal Grenfell Tower fire in London, The Post has learned.

Elliott Management, led by Paul Singer (right), shared its insights with Leon Black’s (far right) Apollo Global Management and Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group on how to potentially contain damages, two sources said.

Apollo and a consortium led by Blackstone and the Carlyle Group, the two remaining bidders, had been considering making binding offers, which are contingent on Arconic ridding itself of the liabilities.

Elliott is Arconic’s biggest shareholder with an 11 percent stake, and has a board seat. The Elliott talks are occurring with the board’s blessing, sources said.

Arconic, separately, is also trying to sell the construction division that represents about 10 percent of sales, but for now houses all the liabilities for the London tower gutted in the 2017 fire, among the worst fires in modern British history.

But Arconic is not interested in a sale that is contingent on the outcome of the construction-unit sale, sources said.

The potentially massive Grenfell Tower liabilities have been threatening to derail the sale, and Arconic has made suitors aware of sealed documents found in the investigation, sources said.

The construction unit of Arconic supplied aluminum cladding that was partly blamed for the quick spread of the fire in the 24-story residential building in West London. It is being investigated by Scotland Yard.

What’s more, Elliott does not seem concerned with the costs that could be associated with removing Arconic tiles from high-rise buildings, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.

Arconic shares rose 1.1 percent, to $20.24.

Apollo, Blackstone and Elliott declined to comment. Arconic did not return calls.