British Investor Aids Frates in Kaiser Battle

An investor group led by Oklahoma investor J. A. Frates disclosed Tuesday that it has enlisted British investor Alan E. Clore in its fight for control of Oakland-based Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical.

The Frates group, which in September announced its intention to gain control of Kaiser Aluminum and to “recapitalize and restructure” the company, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that a Clore-controlled concern agreed to contribute “at least $10 million” toward the takeover cause.

The money will be funneled in through a joint venture with the Frates group.

Kaiser Aluminum’s management, which has vowed to resist the Frates group, declined comment on the latest announcement until it reviews the filing.

The Frates group said in its new filing that it now controls 7.36% of the outstanding shares of Kaiser Aluminum, up from the 5.65% interest that it held in September. The bulk of that interest--a 4.16% stake in Kaiser--is actually owned by Jamie Securities Co., a New York investment partnership that teamed with Frates for the takeover fight.

The SEC filing said the Clore company, Warrego Financial Corp., owns 908,300 Kaiser Aluminum shares--a 2.06% stake.

Frates led the 1984 acquisition of Kaiser Steel, a separate company that, like Kaiser Aluminum, once was part of the Kaiser industrial empire.

Clore is an arbitrageur and takeover specialist who gained control of Gulf Resources & Chemical in 1982 after a heated proxy fight against incumbent management. He resigned as chairman of Gulf Resources in May after the company won a narrow victory against dissident shareholders in a similar fight for control of the board.