LONDON -- Norsk Hydro ASA is acquiring Toulouse, France,-based aluminum building systems manufacturer Technal for 73 million euros ($66 million) and the assumption of about 43 million euros ($39 million) of debt. The company said that final approval from regulatory authorities was awaited.

"With the acquisition of Technal, Hydro will be the worldwide leader in building systems based on aluminum extrusions," the Norwegian group said Hydra is already the largest soft alloy extruder in Europe and the second-largest worldwide.

Technal is France's largest manufacturer of building components used in such products as doors, windows and conservatories. The company was a subsidiary of Alca Inc. until 1999, when it was sold to an investment fund. It has an extrusion plant in Toulouse and sales offices in France, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. The group as a whole employs 1,560 people and had a turnover of 250 million euros last year.

Norsk Hydro envisions the company being integrated into the Hydra Building Systems division of Lausanne-based Hydro Aluminium Extrusion, which has businesses throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States, and joint ventures in Asia and Africa.

Hydro's building division already is one of the market leaders in Germany and Italy, where Technal is not present, said Technal's chief executive officer, Patrick Tanguy. The integration of Technal will double the number of employees at Hydra Building Systems to 3,200.