Bayer plans to complete Covestro IPO in Q4 2015

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bayer's plastics maker Covestro aims to raise about 2.5 billion euros (USD2.8 billion) with an initial public offering in the fourth quarter, sources said, leaving its parent to focus on drugs and pesticides, said Reuters.

Bayer unveiled plans last year to split off the business, formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience, in a move which has improved its share valuation by removing the discount typically applied to diversified companies.

In an "intention to float" notification released on Friday, Bayer said its Covestro offer would consist only of new shares and the proceeds would be used mainly to repay loans to Bayer.

Several people familiar with the plans said Bayer was telling investors to expect a share volume worth about 2.5 billion euros, or a quarter of Covestro's targeted equity value of 10 billion euros or more.

A spokesman for Bayer, whose stock was down 2.4 percent, declined to comment on the volume.

The sources said the exact figures for the flotation of Europe's fourth-largest chemicals maker would depend on future market conditions.

If confirmed, it would be the biggest listing in Germany since Deutsche Post went public in a 6.25 billion euro transaction in November 2000. A more recent flotation of comparable size was Tognum in 2007, worth 2 billion euros.

Selling new Covestro shares to redeem loans from Bayer, instead of having the parent company sell Covestro shares directly to the market, gives Bayer more flexibility to adjust how many shares it sells, depending on stock market conditions, closer to the flotation, finance chief Johannes Dietsch said.

The parent company will commit to holding onto its Covestro shares for 180 days after the listing, he said.

As MRC imformed earlier, from September 1, 2015, Bayer MaterialScience became known as Covestro. Bayer aims to float this business on the stock market by mid-2016 at the latest. The plans for the carve-out of Bayer MaterialScience were announced in September 2014.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer's products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, the Group employed 118,900 people and had sales of EUR 42.2 billion.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Argentina's state-run energy firm YPF said it started normalizing oil and natural gas production in part of energy-producing province Neuquen on Sept. 4 after output was paralyzed earlier in the week by indigenous people protesting land rights, said Empag.

"A team of 34 technicians were able to enter the Loma La Lata field to check production installations, evaluate potential damage caused by the shutdown and normalize operations," YPF said in a statement.

Earlier on Sept. 4, YPF said 400 oil wells and 300 gas wells had been shut down in the Loma La Lata, Loma Campana and Rincon del Mangrullo fields, resulting in a production loss of 16 million cubic meters of gas and 32,000 barrels of crude.

Protesters from the indigenous Paynemil community had barricaded roads, cutting off access to the Vaca Muerta shale field as part of a demonstration over territorial claims.

YPF said it had begun legal action against the Paynemil community to ensure future access to Vaca Muerta wells.

As MRC informed earlier, YPF and Grupo Inversor Petroquimica S.L. have accepted an offer to purchase LyondellBasell's Argentina-based, wholly-owned subsidiary Petroken.

Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) is an Argentinean integrated oil and gas company. The company is the largest in its sector in Argentina. Its business is structured in six activities: exploration and production; refining and logistics; marketing, offering a range of automotive, aeronautics, naval, farming and industrial fuels; chemicals, manufacturing a variety of industrial products, including a diverse group of raw materials for chemical, industrial and agricultural activities; lubricants and YPF Gas, comprising the retail distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The Company"s majority shareholder is Repsol YPF SA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- With MasterTop BC 372AS BASF has added an anti-static, epoxy body coat to its product portfolio of flooring solutions which is bundled under the Master Builders Solutions brand, as per the company's press release.

The main advantages of the new product are improved de-aeration and self-levelling properties, thus easing the installation. MasterTop BC 372AS offers customers flexibility as well as cost optimization as part of a modular system that can be adapted to individual requirements. Moreover it complies with the low emission requirements of the AgBB-standard and is also available as an anti-slip version thus contributing to work-safety.

MasterTop BC 372AS offers creative leeway being available in nearly all RAL and NCS colors. The anti-static properties (resistance to ground) of MasterTop BC 372AS are according to norm EN 1081 and therefore optimally suited to minimize static electricity in warehousing applications and ideal for installations in industrial facilities where there is a risk of dust or solvent explosion in production such as in the pharmaceutical industry.

To further improve the MasterTop wall covering solutions BASF has launched MasterTop BC 328FLR and MasterTop TC 427W. Besides enhanced hiding power of the white top coat and the slightly colored body coat, further advantages are better workability - thus an easier installation by trowel and roller - and improved elasticity and static crack bridging properties, providing enhanced durability and impact resistance.

"The launch of our new products confirms our approach of continuous research and development. Our aim is to offer our customers steadily improved flooring solutions and wall coverings," says Luc Van Eldere, Head of Business Segment Management, Performance Flooring Europe.

As MRC reported earlier, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, is further strengthening its production footprint in Asia Pacific with the start-up of its first production plant for polymer dispersions in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, in January 2015. This production plant is built at the existing BASF production site, located in the Pasir Gudang Industrial Park of the Johor Free Trade Zone. The plant is BASF’s third polymer dispersions plant in ASEAN, complementing the existing dispersions plants in Jakarta and Merak, Indonesia.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chandra Asri is in plans to shut its high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymeurpdate source in Indonesia informed that the plant is planned to be taken off-stream towards the end of September 2015. It is likely to remain shut for around 8 Weeks.

Located in Cilegon, West Java, Indonesia the HDPE plant has a production capacity of 135,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Barito Pacific's subsidiary Chandra Asri Petrochemical (CAP) is reportedly planning to build a naphtha refinery at its Cilegon complex in Banten, Indonesia, with an estimated investment of USD740m.

Chandra Asri Petrochemical (CAP) is the largest vertically integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia with facilities located in Ciwandan, Cilegon and Puloampel, Serang in Banten Province. CAP is Indonesia's premier petrochemical plant incorporating world-class, state-of-the-art technology and supporting facilities. At the heart of CAP lies the Lummus Naphtha Cracker producing high quality Ethylene, Propylene, Mixed C4, and Pyrolysis Gasoline (Py-Gas) for the Indonesian as well as regional export markets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- At the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, Klaus Schafer, Member of the Board of Management, E.ON SE, Pierre Chareyre, Executive vice-president of ENGIE, Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV and Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell signed a Shareholders’ Agreement on implementation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to enhance supply of natural gas to the European Union’s market, reported BASF on its site.

The project will be developed by the new project company New European Pipeline AG. According to the document, Gazprom will own a 51 per cent share in the project company. E.ON, Shell, OMV and BASF/Wintershall will each own ten per cent and ENGIE will hold nine per cent.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction of two offshore pipelines with the aggregate annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas to be constructed from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The project will build on the positive experience of Nord Stream in implementing safe and reliable infrastructure.

"Nord Stream 2 will double the throughput of our direct, state-of-the-art gas supply route via the Baltic Sea. It is important that those are mostly the new gas volumes, which will be sought for in Europe due to the continuous decline in its domestic production.

The fact that the global energy majors participate in the project bespeaks its significance for securing reliable gas supply to European consumers," said Alexey Miller.

"For more than 20 years, BASF has been participating in the construction of pipelines to ensure secure supplies of Russian gas to Europe. We want to bring our expertise to the expansion of Nord Stream and look forward to working with Gazprom and the other partners on this important infrastructure project," said Kurt Bock.

"With the expansion of Nord Stream we will further secure reliable natural gas supplies for Germany and the EU in the long-term. This project will strengthen our more than 40-year-lasting successful partnership with Gazprom," said Klaus Schafer.

As MRC reported earlier, BASF's subsidiary Wintershall intends to participate in expanding the capacities of the Nord Stream pipeline, which delivers Russian natural gas to European customers via the Baltic Sea. A Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed on 31 July 2015. This expansion of the Nord Stream pipeline will consist of two additional pipelines that could transport up to 55 billion additional cubic meters of Russian natural gas directly to Germany.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.

Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas and one of the largest companies in the world.
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