Hindalco Industries Ltd, India's biggest producer of non-ferrous metals, plans to acquire Novelis Inc, a Canada-based aluminum-sheet maker, for as much as 6 billion U.S.dollars, company spokeswoman Pragnya Ram said yesterday in Mumbai.

The Mumbai-based company plans to make a formal announcement later, Ram said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News.

Shares of Novelis have doubled since January 25 on speculation the company may receive a takeover offer after several weeks of talks with potential acquirers. Novelis shares fell 2.5 percent to 45.07 Canadian dollars (38.44 U.S.dollars) a share on Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Indian companies have been expanding overseas to tap mature industrial markets. Tata Steel last month succeeded in its 12 billion U.S.dollars bid to acquire Corus Group Plc, the biggest British steel maker, outbidding Cia Siderurgica Nacional SA of Brazil.

Hindalco's parent, the Aditya Birla Group, headed by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, has interests in telecommunications, cement, metals, textiles and financial services.

Alcan, the world's second-largest aluminum producer after Alcoa Inc, spun off Novelis to satisfy antitrust concerns after acquiring France's Pechiney SA for about 4 billion U.S.dollars in February 2004. In January 2005, Novelis agreed to sell about 1.4 billion dollars in bonds as part of a 2.9 billion dollars refinancing needed to repay loans from Alcan.