Minews - Goldman Sells Aluminum SubsidiaryGoldman Sells Aluminum Subsidiary

(Minews) - Goldman Sachs has sold an aluminum warehouse subsidiary that drew criticism to a European private equity firm, Reuben Brothers.

Goldman originally purchased Metro International Trade Services in 2010 for $550 million, aiming to take advantage of the glut of commodities as the economy slowed down.

Not long after Goldman took over, some industrial users of aluminum complained that Goldman had instituted practices at the warehouses in Detroit that drove up the end price of aluminum. The practices were the subject of a front-page article in The New York Times in 2013.

Last month, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations put the warehouses at the center of a report about the dangers of banks owning commodities and commodities infrastructure. At the subcommittee’s hearing, Goldman executives had tense exchanges with the senator who had led the investigation.

Goldman had said before the hearing that it was hoping to sell the aluminum warehouse business. The bank, however, has said that it intends to continue its broader work with commodities and commodities infrastructure.

The bank did not disclose on Monday how much it was receiving from Reuben Brothers for the warehouse business.