Tessenderlo Group plans to sell its compounds business to Mitsubishi Chemical

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Tessenderlo Group, a worldwide specialty company, has announced receipt of an offer for its compounds business from Mitsubishi Chemical, a global petrochemical company already present in the compounds industry, reported the company on its site.

The intended sale comprises four production sites in France, Poland and China and one R&D site in Belgium.
This transaction is subject to merger control approval.

The present divestment project is in line with the group’s strengthened focus on specialty products and services in the areas of food, agriculture, water management and valorizing bio-residuals.

As MRC wrote previously, in the first half of 2012 Tessenderlo Group officially inaugurated its new CTS production plant in Changsu, China. The new plant is aimed to produce high-performance, thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and slush moulding compounds for automotive applications.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is Japan’s leading chemical company with chemistry -based
technology platforms for the development of a wide range of technologies and products in the fields of
performance products, healthcare, and industrial materials.

Tessenderlo Group is a worldwide specialty company, focused on food, agriculture, water management and on valorizing bio-residuals. Tessenderlo Group’s Compounds business unit has nearly 50 years’ experience and extensive know-how in formulation and production of thermoplastics, making it market leader in this sector. Its range of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) and PVCs has been specially formulated to provide original solutions for applications in the building, automotive, cabling and many other areas.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shanghai- Oriental Energy has signed a license agreement with Dow Chemical Co.'s Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology LLC subsidiary for the use of Unipol polypropylene (PP) process technology for a plant to be built in Zhangjiagang in China’s Jiangsu Province, said Apic-online.

The 400,000-t/y PP plant will produce homopolymers, impact copolymers and random copolymers using propylene from Oriental’s propane dehydrogenation unit (see MRC news). A schedule for the project was not available.

"We chose Dow for our first (PP) unit because Unipol is the industry leading PP manufacturing technology," explained Mr. Wang of Oriental. "With Dow, we will exceed market demands” for these PP grades.

Tracy Cleckler, global commercial director for Dow Plastics Licensing & Catalysts, noted that Oriental will "be able to make PP resins that allow fabricators to run their lines at a faster rate, benefiting from the higher melt flow capability of some of the Unipol product grades."
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A Swiss investment group is suing specialist chemicals maker Arkema for 310 million euros (USD403 million), in a dispute over its purchase of the French company's loss-making vinyl division last year, Reuters.

Klesch Group, led by American investor Gary Klesch, said it had discovered significant gaps in the information presented by Arkema's management before it completed the acquisition in July of Kem One SAS, whose products are used in items ranging from pipes and packaging to paper.

"Had Klesch known of these misrepresentations at the time of negotiations it would not have entered into the transaction under the terms agreed," Klesch said in a statement on Monday.

Arkema rejected what it called "serious and false allegations", saying it was confident of demonstrating they were "totally unfounded".

Arkema said Klesch had access "in complete transparency and throughout the negotiations" to all the necessary information to assess the financial situation and prospects of the business.

The sale of the vinyls division led to a 505 million euro charge in Arkema's 2011 accounts as it refocused on products that are less sensitive to volatility in raw material prices and the economic cycle (see MRC news).

Formerly an adviser to President Gerald Ford and a bankruptcy consultant for the UK Treasury, Klesch built a reputation in London's financial sector in the 1980s and 90s as a defender of investor rights and was involved in high-profile corporate restructurings such as at Eurotunnel.

Klesch has lately switched his focus to commodity assets such as refineries, shipping firms and aluminium smelters.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rajoo Bausano, a joint venture between Rajkot-based Rajoo Engineers Limited and Italy's Bausano and Figli SPA, has developed a machine to manufacture 500 mm diameter PVC pipes, said Plastemart.

Company will export the fully automatic machine with output capacity of 1000 kg/hour to South Africa.

To produce advance technology pipe manufacturing machines company has joined hand with Italy based company 'Bausano' and form new company named Rajoo Bausano Extusion Pvt Ltd in 2010.

As MRC wrote earlier, Rajoo and Bausano formed Rajoo Bausano Extrusion Pvt. Ltd., and put operations to commence in 2011, supplying pipe and profile lines, including wood plastic composite technology, in India, Africa, and South Asia from Rajkot.

Rajoo Engineers Limited has 49 % share in the joint venture and Italian company has 51% share. Under this JV, Italian company provides technology and Rajoo Engineers produce the machine and market.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has released the final award amount, representing interest and costs, in the arbitration case between Dow Chemical, the largest U.S. chemical maker by sales, and Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait (PIC) related to the K-Dow transaction, according to Dow's press release.

The final interest and costs awarded to Dow totals USD318 million, as of today, and is in addition to the partial award of USD2.16 billion announced last May - resulting in full damages awarded to Dow equal to USD2.48 billion.

This is the last step in the disciplined arbitration process, bringing the process to a close. Both awards (partial and final) are binding and non-appealable.

"Payment of these damages of nearly USD2.5 billion will allow Dow to accelerate its priority uses for cash by further strengthening our balance sheet," said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. "Dow and Kuwait share a long history and strong partnership, and this award ruling brings suitable closure to the arbitration process. The Dow team fully expects, and we are resolved to ensure, that PIC honors its contractual commitments in a timely manner."

The total award amount is subject to continuing interest until Dow receives payment. Counsel for Dow is Shearman & Sterling.

As MRC reported earlier, Dow put together a USD17.4 billion joint venture with Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC), a subsidiary of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., to produce plastics for consumer products, automotive parts, and drug processing in 2008. But as commodity prices plunged and the global economy went into a recession, the so-called K-Dow Petrochemicals joint venture was scrapped just days before it was set to close. Two months after the deal collapsed, Dow posted losses of USD1.55 billion for the fourth-quarter of 2008 and cut about 11 per cent of its global work force. The International Court of Arbitration in Paris ruled that PIC will pay Dow for backing out of the deal. The court is part of the International Chamber of Commerce.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber.
MRC