The 50:50 PE joint venture between BASF AG (D-67056 Ludwigshafen) and Shell has received the green light from the EU Commission and will start business on 1 March at Strasbourg and Kehl. The new company, known previously under its project title Marlene, will trade under the name Elenac. It will share the number two slot in the European market with Polimeri Europa and Dow Chemical, behind market leader Borealis. With a workforce of 2,500 and annual sales of DM 3bn, Elenac will have 1.4m t of annual capacity at Köln and Ludwigshafen, Germany, Fos, Berre and Notre Dame-de-Gravenchon, France, and Carrington, UK.

BASF's former PE head, Rolf Richter, will be chief executive officer, Henry Strick van Linschoten will head finance and personnel, Gerhard Schunck marketing and distribution and Jo Vincken production and technology. While stating that due to the large number of players in PE, the BASF-Shell link would not be in a position to limit competition, the Commission mandated some changes in the original agreement to ensure, as it said, that the two parent companies could not exert undue influence on markets. Elenac will be required to set up a separate joint venture with Montell to operate the ethylene cracker at Berre. The new company also takes in European activities of Montell, now wholly owned by Shell.