ADNOC looks to raise up to USD2 bln from IPO of gas unit

Investors snapped up all of the shares on offer in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.'s natural gas business within hours after the initial public offering kicked off, showing that demand for Middle East share sales continues to remain strong, said Gulfnews.

Adnoc Gas' initial public offering order book was fully covered, according to a message sent to investors and seen by Bloomberg. Several funds, including Abu Dhabi state-linked entities, have committed USD850 million as cornerstone investors. Among them are also Alpha Dhabi and International Holding Co.

The UAE’s national oil company is seeking to raise as much as USD2 billion from its gas business in what is set to be the biggest IPO so far this year. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is selling a 4 per cent stake in Adnoc Gas, with each of the 3.07 billion shares being offered at between Dh2.25 and Dh2.43.

At the top of the range the company will be valued at USD50.8 billion, making it one of the world's largest listed gas firms and roughly on a par with Eni SpA and Occidental Petroleum Corp.

ADNOC Gas will be the fifth ADNOC subsidiary or JV that will have a presence on ADX.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) announced the formation of, ADNOC Gas, effective 1 Jan 2023, a new worldscale gas processing, operations and marketing company. ADNOC Gas combines the operations, maintenance and marketing of the ADNOC Gas Processing and ADNOC LNG (liquefied natural gas) businesses into one global consolidated business.

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Pembina will proceed with construction on a 55,000 bbl/day propane-plus fractionator at its existing Redwater fractionation and storage complex, said the company.

The project updates were included in the company’s Q4 earnings press release. The new fractionator will be RFS IV.

“The Redwater Complex is underpinned by long-term take-or-pay contracts and in recent quarters, Pembina has successfully extended existing contracts and signed incremental new contracts,” the company said. The existing facility is highly utilised and RFS IV is needed to meet customer demand, Pembina executives said.

Existing infrastructure at the Redwater Complex, including storage caverns and extensive unit train capable rail facilities, provide Pembina an ability to offer incremental fractionation capacity at a competitive cost.

RFS IV is expected to cost about USD460m and will leverage the design, engineering and operating best practices of its existing facilities, Pembina said. The project includes additional rail loading capacity at the Redwater Complex.

As per MRC, Pembina Pipeline and Inter Pipeline (IPL) are mulling the prospects of dehydrogenation/polypropylene (PDH/PP) production in Alberta province. On May 31, 2021, Pembina and Inter Pipeline entered into an agreement (the "Strategic Combination") to create one of the largest and best positioned energy infrastructure companies in Canada. Together the companies' diversified and integrated asset base can support and grow an extensive value chain for natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, from wellhead to end user, that far exceeds anything either company can do separately.

Pembina Pipeline has been a gas supplier to the North American power system for over 60 years. Pembina owns and operates pipelines that transport a variety of hydrocarbon fluids, including conventional and synthetic crude oil and others, produced in Western Canada and North Dakota.

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Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, today announced that its Board of Directors authorized a quarterly dividend of USD0.14 per share, which represents a 56% reduction from the current quarterly dividend of USD0.32 per share, said the company.

“We remain committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders while maintaining a strong financial position. We believe taking the prudent decision to reduce the dividend will preserve liquidity and enable us to continue to invest in growth and sustainability projects through these challenging macroeconomic conditions,” said Frank Bozich, Trinseo’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

The dividend will be a cash distribution payable on April 20, 2023, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 6, 2023.

We remind, Trinseo reported a Q4 net loss of $365.3m largely because of a pre-tax, non-cash goodwill impairment charge of USD297m related to its PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units. The company saw Q4 sales fall by almost 25% compared with the same quarter a year go while costs fell at a slower pace. The following table shows the company's Q4 financial performance. Figures are in millions of dollars.

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Arkema's adjusted net income fell by 58.5% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2022, with sales volumes dropping on weak demand in China as well as a slowdown and destocking in Europe, said the company.

Arkema aims to achieve in 2023 an EBITDA of around EUR1.5bn to EUR1.6bn. "At the beginning of the year, the macroeconomic context is marked by a lack of visibility and ongoing weak demand, in the continuity of fourth-quarter 2022," the company said.

"A progressive improvement is expected from the spring and should gather momentum in the second part of the year," it added.

Following Arkema’s Board of Directors’ meeting, held on 22 February 2023 to approve the Group’s consolidated financial statements for 2022, Chairman and CEO Thierry Le Henaff said:

“Arkema achieved an excellent year in 2022 in many respects, first of all in terms of its financial performance, with EBITDA of over EUR2 billion, reflecting the efforts of all our employees, whom I would like to thank for their commitment in a demanding environment. We also finalized a high-quality acquisition, with Ashland’s adhesives, and entered the start-up phase at our production site in Singapore for polyamide 11 and its monomer, thus strengthening the Group’s profile, resolutely focused on innovative materials. It is also a great source of pride for the teams to be recognized by rating agencies as one of the leaders in our industry in terms of CSR.

2023 has begun in an economic context of weak demand, which requires us to be strict in managing our costs and working capital, while preparing for an improvement of the environment during the course of the second quarter. We have full confidence in the long-term prospects offered by our new developments focused on decarbonization and sustainable development, and we will continue to invest in these opportunities. We will leverage our cutting-edge innovation to continue to support our customers in their quest for sustainable performance.”

We remind, Arkema announces the doubling of its polyester resins capacity in its Navi Mumbai facility in India, reinforcing the Group’s leadership position in the global powder coatings market and its commitment to developing very low-VOC technologies. Arkema invested in the Navi Mumbai facility in early 2019 to expand geographic coverage of its high performance, more sustainable, low-VOC products, and to support its customers in their development. The site includes a modern manufacturing unit and a dedicated laboratory to provide application development and technical support in the region.

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Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, announced today two joint venture (JV) actions with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to extend their longstanding strategic partnership, said the company.

Celanese announced the signing of a term sheet to form a Food Ingredients JV with Mitsui, subject to customary approvals. Through this transaction, Celanese will contribute its Food Ingredients business, inclusive of assets, technology, and employees, to form a standalone Food Ingredients JV. Celanese will retain a 30 percent ownership stake in the JV and Mitsui will acquire a 70 percent ownership stake.

Celanese Food Ingredients is a leading producer of acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) sweetener as well as sorbic acid and potassium sorbate preservatives. Celanese is the inventor and only Western-producer of Sunett® Ace-K which is a zero-calorie, high-intensity sweetener. On a pro-forma basis, the Food Ingredients business generated approximately USD170 million in 2022 net sales and USD45 to USD50 million in 2022 EBITDA. The Food Ingredients JV will combine the leading technology, product portfolio, and backward integration of Celanese with Mitsui’s long-standing positions in a variety of food supply chains across Asia and other regions. Celanese’s Acetyl Chain business will continue to meet the full acetyls raw material needs of the Food Ingredients JV under a long-term supply agreement.

The parties expect the transaction to close during the third quarter of 2023. Celanese expects to utilize cash proceeds from the JV formation to execute against its existing deleveraging plan. Celanese is advised by BofA Securities as financial advisor and Shearman & Sterling LLP as legal counsel.

We remind, Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials and chemical company, announced the completion of an ultra-low capital project to repurpose existing manufacturing and infrastructure assets to unlock additional ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) capacity at its Edmonton, Alberta facility, said the company. The expansion supports significant growth in the Acetyl Chain’s downstream vinyls portfolio.

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