Ashland completes acquisition of Reichhold composites facility in France

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ashland Global Holdings Inc has completed the previously announced acquisition of a composites resin manufacturing facility in Etain (France) and its associated business from Reichhold Holdings International BV, said Business-standard.

The facility, which employs approximately 50 people, manufactures unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) used in a variety of end markets, including transportation and construction. Reichhold said the divestiture was an integral part of the program to achieve closing of its previously announced combination with Polynt.

"The addition of the Etain facility strengthens Ashland's position in the European composites market. Together with Ashland's existing facilities in Spain, Finland and Poland, we are well positioned to deliver enhanced customer service and support future growth opportunities across Europe. The Etain technologies in automotive (SMC) and wind energy applications will allow Ashland to supplement the already extensive composites product portfolio in Europe to support our existing and new customers," said Andy Johnston, group vice president, composites, Ashland.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemicals Group (PCG) has taken off-stream a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) line at its LLDPE/high density polyethylene (HDPE) swing plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the LLDPE line with production capacity of 120,000 mt/year was shut earlier this week. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 4-5 days.

Located in Kerteh at Terengganu, Malaysia, the swing plant has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, in early 2017, Petronas said that its new USD27 billion refining and petrochemical complex project in the southeast Asian country is on track for start-up in 2019. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters a little bit earlier that Saudi Aramco had shelved its plans for a partnership with Petronas on the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project. RAPID, located within the Pengerang Integrated Complex in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, is designed to have a 300,000-bpd oil refinery and a petrochemical complex with a production capacity of 7.7 MMt.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Malaysia’s Lotte Chemical Titan Holding has set a ceiling price of 8 ringgit a share for its planned IPO, giving it a total size of up to 5.9 billion ringgit (USD1.37 billion), Business Recorder reported, citing three sources with knowledge of the deal.

The listing could be one of the biggest IPOs in years in Malaysia, which has not seen any listing of $1 billion and above since the USD1.5 billion IPO of Astro Malaysia Holdings in 2012.

A separate source confirmed the ceiling price to Reuters, adding the IPO’s indicative price range has not been determined yet. IFR Asia is a publication of Thomson Reuters.

The subsidiary of South Korea’s Lotte Chemical Corporation plans to sell 740.4 million shares, or 30% of the enlarged capital of the company in the IPO.

Lotte Chemical Titan could not be immediately reached for a comment.

The IPO also includes a greenshoe option of 55.5 million shares, or 2.5% of the enlarged capital. A total of 684.7 million shares will be placed to institutions and retail portion takes up 55.7 million. Premarketing is expected to start next week.

The IPO was originally planned for last year but was shelved following revelations of South Korea’s investigations into alleged fraud at Lotte Group.

The proceeds will be used to build a naphtha cracker plant in Indonesia.

As MRC informed before, in May 2016, Lotte Chemical Corp. finalized the takeover of Samsung Group’s chemical units.The company said that it paid for money to acquire Samsung SDI Chemical on Apr. 29 and completed the acquisition of Samsung Group’s chemical businesses in about six months after the announcement of "Big Deal" in October 2015.

Established in 1976, Lotte Chemical has been solidifyng its position by localizing cutting-edge petrochemical technologies. Among the high-quality products produced by Lotte Chemical through its efficient processes are ethylene, HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, functional resin, EG, SM, PIA, PET, etc. Lotte Chemical’s products are being distributed to 152 countries around the world. With the acquisition of Pakistan’s PTA in 2009, Artenius in the UK in 2010 and Titan Chemical Corp., Lotte Chemical is now able to efficiently supply excellent products to an increasing number of countries. The company is further accelerating its efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by establishing overseas branches in Hong Kong, Russia, and USA, along with the sales corporation in China for active sales activities both in domestic and abroad.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axalta Coating Systems has completed its previously announced acquisition of the Spencer Coatings Group, a leading manufacturer of high performance industrial coatings for heavy-duty equipment, general industrial, oil and gas, and glass coatings segments, said Coatingsworld.

Manufactured in facilities in the U.K., Spencer’s line of industrial products will join Axalta’s portfolio of Performance Coatings for industrial customers. With a shared commitment to customers and strong foundation in product innovation, Axalta will utilize Spencer’s products and people to serve existing customers in the U.K. and expand into new geographies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Gurit, a worldwide leading developer and manufacturer of advanced composite materials, components and technologies, has announced that it has renewed its distribution agreement with Maricell S.r.l., an Italian producer of closed-cell PVC structural foam, as per the company's press release.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gurit will continue to distribute all Maricell PVC globally until December 31, 2020, with further extension options.

The distribution agreement is equally beneficial for both parties. Gurit benefits from a guaranteed volume of high-quality PVC while Maricell can rely on a sales volume which Gurit has committed to distribute through its global network.

Gurit will continue to produce and distribute its existing core materials range Corecell, PVC, Balsaflex and Kerdyn PET globally. Furthermore, Gurit offers regional stock as well as slicing and finishing capacities for structural foam to customers in Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region in order to provide customers the complete composite solution - from engineering to material selection and material processing to on-site technical support.

As MRC wrote before, in January 2017, Gurit acquired BASF's polyethylene terephthalate (PET) structural foam business in Italy.

Maricell is a producer of closed-cell PVC structural foam.

The companies of Gurit Holding AG, Wattwil/Switzerland, (SIX Swiss Exchange: GUR) are specialized on the development and manufacture of advanced composite materials, related technologies and select finished parts and components. The comprehensive product range comprises fiber reinforced prepregs, structural core products, gel coats, adhesives, resins and consumables. Gurit supplies global growth markets with composite materials on the one hand and composite tooling equipment, structural engineering and select finished parts on the other. The global Group has production sites and offices in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Poland, Canada, the U.S.A., Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, India and China.
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