The take-over of Aughinish Alumina Ltd by giant Russian aluminium company RusAl took a step closer this week.

A group of Russians arrived at the plant near Askeaton before last weekend after weeks of speculation that a merger between the two companies was imminent.

Back in August, a spokesman for Aughinish reportedly said that "management here do not believe this company will be sold." Although it was reported at the time that RusAl were in talks with Aughinish's owners, Glencore and that a possible merger could be on the cards.

It has now emerged that RusAl hopes to take over the alumina assets of Glencore as well as another leading Russian aluminium company, Sual. According to unconfirmed reports, a memorandum was signed by the three parties last week.

Under the terms of the deal, RusAl would buy Glencore's alumina assets by issuing new shares and will own 64.5 per cent in the new company, with Glencore holding 14 per cent. RusAl however will be able to buy out Glencore's stake within three years.

If the deal goes ahead, it would make RusAl the world's top aluminium company, controlling the production of 11 million tonnes of alumina and four million tonnes of aluminium.

Aughinish currently has planning permission to increase its production of alumina to 1.95m tonnes a year. It has also been granted permission to expand the red mud ponds at the plant.

RusAl is controlled by Oleg Deripaska, who bought up Chelsea football-club boss Roman Abramovich's 25 per cent stake in RusAl in 2004.