Trans-World Metals

Metals trading group of David and Simon Reuben, known for investing in the Russian aluminium industry in the 1990s

Trans-World
Trade name	Trans-World Metals; Trans-World Group
Type	Private metals trading group
Founded	1977 (according to The Guardian)
Founder(s)	David Reuben
Industry	Metals trading; aluminium

Trans-World, also known as Trans-World Metals or Trans-World Group, was the metals trading business of the brothers David Reuben and Simon Reuben (Reuben Brothers). In the 1990s it became one of the largest foreign investors in the Russian aluminium industry, before the brothers sold their Russian aluminium interests to Sibneft in 2000.

History

According to The Guardian, David Reuben left Metal Traders in 1977 to set up Trans-World, and Simon Reuben ran its property investment arm. The paper reported that the brothers opened an office in Russia in 1991 with Lev Chernoy. Within a year 80 per cent of Trans-World's cash was tied up in Russia, and over the next five years it invested close to £1bn there. By 1995, according to the company, it had a turnover close to £4bn and accounted for 5 per cent of world aluminium production. As assets were seized and managements removed, the brothers sold the aluminium plants to Sibneft, which The Guardian said was for £300m, and the steel and raw materials business to other buyers.

Fortune wrote that, with the help of Lev Chernoy and his brother Michael, Trans World was hailed in 1996 as the world's third-largest aluminium producer, behind Alcoa and Alcan. By 1999, it said, the brothers had lost control of most of their manufacturing plants in the former Soviet Union.

Controversies

The Guardian reported that a 1998 World Bank report claimed Trans-World was founded with $2m borrowed from Marc Rich. The brothers confirmed business dealings with Rich but denied that he had funded the company.

Fortune published a long report on the group in June 2000. Its July 2004 "update and clarification" reported that:

• in December 2000 Kroll Associates issued a report on six metal-trading companies in London, Geneva, Bermuda and Nassau, and found "no evidence of money laundering, or any other illegal activity";
• in August 2001 the Düsseldorf prosecutor's office ended its money-laundering inquiry;
• the brothers' June 2001 libel claim against the writer Richard Behar and Time Inc. had been "resolved on amicable terms".

The magazine added that the Kroll report did not cover Trans World's aluminium manufacturing business in the former Soviet Union or the brothers' relationship with the Chernoys.

UK companies

Companies House lists a UK company named Trans-World Group Limited (02586047). It was incorporated on 27 February 1991 as Landmet Group plc, renamed Trans-World Group plc on 8 February 1993 and became a private company on 25 October 2005. Its registered office is 4th Floor Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, England, SW1P 4QP. The register names "Mr Reuben David Reuben" as its person with significant control, with 50–75% of shares and voting rights and the right to appoint and remove directors, from 6 April 2016. Officers include:

• David Reuben, director until 10 May 2002;
• Alan Richard Bekhor, director from 1997 to 1999;
• Malcolm Robin Turner, director from 2002 to 2022;
• William Richard Collins, director since 2007;
• Stephane Abraham Joseph Nahum, director since 2024.

A separate company, Trans-World (Aluminium) Limited (03157771), was renamed Lake Superior Limited in 2009 and dissolved on 30 July 2019. David Reuben was a director from 1996 to 1998.

See also

• Reuben Brothers
• Lev Tchernoi
• Mikhail Tchernoi