With the purchase of a majority share of 83.5% in competitor Conser (Rome; www.conserspa.com), Italian plant manufacturer Maire Tecnimont (Milan; www.mairetecnimont.com) is opening up new markets for itself, including intermediates for biopolymers. The transaction is expected to be completed in mid-April 2023, subject to usual approvals.

The plant manufacturer also has the option to acquire the remaining 16.5% within the next three years.

Maire Tecnimont subsidiary, NextChem (Rome; www.nextchem.it), which focuses on plants for sustainable raw materials – to which Conser, worth EUR 25 mn in terms of sales, is likely to be assigned – gains access to a number of patents with the takeover. These include processes for the production of olefins, maleic anhydride, butanediol, and dimethyl succinate.

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Especially for the latter, a precursor for biopolymers PBS and PBAT, Conser last year alone granted more than half of all licences for corresponding plants in Asia. In addition, there is expertise in liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC), which are used for hydrogen storage in lithium-based batteries.

Last year, the Italian engineering group inaugurated a recycling plant for polymers in the United Arab Emirates, together with GCB Polymers (see Plasteurope.com of 14.11.2022).