Arkema finalizes the acquisition of Bostik

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has finalized the acquisition of Bostik, the world’s No. 3 in adhesives, on 2 February 2015, reported the company on its site.

With this acquisition, the group reaches a new milestone in its development, and confirms its ambition to become a world leader in specialty chemicals and advanced materials. Bostik’s growth prospects and the complementarities identified between the two groups will sustain the success of this high value creating project.

With the acquisition of Bostik, Arkema fulfils a project that is perfectly aligned with its strategy to reinforce its position in specialty chemicals and further develop its High Performance Materials segment. Bostik, which will constitute a new business unit of this segment, holds leadership positions in most of its markets, has internationally recognized brands and technologies, and achieves around EUR1.5 billion sales with 4,900 employees in over 40 countries.

"It is with great pleasure that we welcome the Bostik teams. I firmly believe in the quality and the development potential of this company which represents a promising growth platform for the future. I also want to thank everyone who, through their true professionalism, has helped finalize quickly the operation and its financing," stated Thierry Le Henaff, Arkema Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The financing of this operation was successfully finalized early 2015 with a EUR700 million bond issue with a 1.5% coupon, and complements the hybrid bond issue conducted in October 2014 and the share capital increase completed in December 2014.

With the acquisition of Bostik, the new entity achieves sales of around EUR7.6 billion and employs some 19,000 people around the world.

Bostik develops high-performance and high-value-added bonding and sealing products for the nonwoven, industrial, construction, and consumer markets. Bostik employs about 4,900 people across 48 production facilities - 18 in Europe, 10 - in North America, 8 - in Asia, 6 - in Australia and New Zealand, 2 - in Africa, and 4 - in South America.

Arkema is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lubrizol Corporation announces that it has acquired EcoQuimica Industria e Comercio Produtos Quimica Ltda., a manufacturer and supplier of coatings technology for products sold into decorative paints, textiles, cement, elastomeric coatings and paper coatings, as per the company's press release.

Headquartered in Paulinia, a municipality in the state of Sao Paulo, EcoQuimica (formerly under common ownership with Mercia Industria e Comercio Produtos Quimica Ltda.) will expand Lubrizol's performance coatings footprint in the Latin America marketplace.

"The acquisition of EcoQuimica will enable Lubrizol to broaden our already comprehensive portfolio on a global basis and provide us a stronger local presence in this market," said Tesh Gor, vice president and general manager of Lubrizol Performance Coatings. "The combined technologies and knowledge of our two companies will allow us to provide our customers with more comprehensive solutions in both the global and regional markets.

In addition, Lubrizol recently purchased land adjacent to the EcoQuimica facility to support future expansion. "With the combined property situated in a prime location in Sao Paulo, Lubrizol plans to expand with the addition of a warehousing facility as well an applications and technical services lab," said Gilson Santos, Lubrizol vice president, Latin America.

As MRC wrote before, Lubrizol Corporation completed the acquisition in the United States and Canada of Weatherford International’s global oilfield chemicals business, known as Engineered Chemistry and its United States drilling fluids business, known as Integrity Industries.

EcoQuimica is now part of Lubrizol Advanced Materials, reporting into Lubrizol's Performance Coatings business. This transaction includes all intellectual property, trademarks and customer lists of EcoQuimica. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an innovative specialty chemical company that apart from its production develops and supplies technologies to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol is providing innovative solutions for its customers high-performance application needs and remains committed to ongoing investment in its CPVC capabilities that support future growth. With headquarters in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. Revenues for 2013 were USD6.4 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US energy major Chevron Corp said it will stop exploring for shale gas in Poland, a sector that has failed to live up to its early promise of transforming eastern Europe's energy supplies, reported Reuters.

Chevron's Polish unit "has decided to discontinue shale gas operations in Poland as the opportunities here no longer compete favorably with other opportunities in Chevron's global portfolio", the company said in a statement.

Exxon Mobil, Total and Marathon Oil have also stopped shale gas exploration in Poland.

As MRC wrote before, according to 2012 report from business intelligence group GlobalData, the ongoing shale revolution will guide the US ethylene industry surge in the near future, growing by more than a third by 2017.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical plans to shut several units at its petrochemicals complex in Jubail for scheduled maintenance in February and October, said Tradearabia.

The company, an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), will shut its olefins plant from February 1 for almost five weeks, it said.

Production rates at some plants that depend on olefins will be cut but the impact will be offset by Kayan's inventories and other affiliates of Sabic, it said, predicting the financial impact would be SR 62 million (USD16.5 million), which would be reflected in first-quarter earnings.

In addition, an ethylene gylcol and ethylene oxide plant will be shut from October 1 for 60 days for maintenance and repairs.

Kayan will shut plants that use ethylene glycol and ethylene oxide; a polycarbonate plant will stop for 75 days, an amines plant for 65 days, and an ethoxylate plant for 61 days. All will undergo maintenance during that period.

The company said it would incur losses of SR 340 million from those shutdowns, which would be reflected in fourth-quarter earnings.

As MRC wrote earlier, Saudi Kayan, Sadara Chemical and Saudi Acrylic Acid Company (SAAC) have joined forces to establish a new company, which will build the first butanol plant in the Middle East and the largest in the world. The Saudi Butanol Company, which will produce butanol to support the growth of the paints and coatings industry in Saudi Arabia, will be located at Tasnee Petrochemicals Complex in Jubail Industrial City and operated by Tasnee.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL), the showpiece industrial project of industry-starved West Bengal, after being shut for over six months, is trying to hobble back to normalcy aided by lenders’ confidence and fall in naphtha price in world market, as per Business-standard.

Price of naphtha, the main feedstock of the petrochemical plant, is at USD400 a tonne as compared to USD1,000 in July, when the plant was shut due to lack of working capital.

According to company sources, the trial run for the captive power plant and the naphtha cracker unit has already begun. The plant has placed order for fresh naphtha and technicians are joining back.

Following the lender’s meet last week and the private promoter, The Chatterjee Group’s (TCG) promise to bring in margin amount of Rs 100 crore, the banks agreed to infuse fresh funds of Rs 800 crore in to the plant. TCG is one of the principal promoters of HPL, along with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and now in management control after WBIDC had agreed to transfer its stake to the group.

Their approval is critical before any of the proposals to revive the firm is accepted. HPL management had asked for Rs 1,000 crore to buy naphtha. The plant, when running at full capacity requires around 2.2 million metric tonne (mmt) in a year.

Officials of HPL also said that the fall in prices of raw materials gave them the confidence that even if the working capital is given in small tranches, they can restart operation. Industry experts say that currently the market for injection-moulded products such as syringes, crates, buckets, filaments is showing an uptrend.

But there is caveat. During the long closure of the plant, many longtime customers of the plant, especially the downstream units have started buying products from abroad. At its prime, HPL had a market share of 12.8 percent and a near monopoly in the eastern region.

As MRC wrote before, IndianOil Corporation (IOC) is likely to call off its planned acquisition of the West Bengal government’s 40% in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) if The Chatterjee Group (TCG) chief Purnendu Chatterjee is appointed HPL chairman.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd is a modern naphtha based petrochemical complex at Haldia, West Bengal, India. Haldia has played the role of a catalyst in emergence of more than 500 downstream processing industries in West Bengal with a capacity to process more than 3,50,000 TPA of polymers, among which are polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
MRC