They reproduced a letter from one such hedge fund, Jana Holdings, which read: "Given Alcoa's long history of failing to generate shareholder value through acquisitions, we believe that its greatest value can be realised through a sale or break-up of the company."
"Marketplace valuations on reserves and resources are ridiculously cheap across the mining commodity spectrum," says Renken. "Hence the pressure on Alcoa's board to 'make things happen' corporately to get a better valuation on their own shares."