Austrian polyolefins producer Borealis (Vienna; www.borealisgroup.com) could soon be getting a new majority owner. Compatriot oil and gas group OMV (Vienna; www.omv.com) has agreed on the contract terms with current majority owner Mubadala (Abu Dhabi / United Arab Emirates; www.mubadala.com) to acquire an additional 39% of Borealis shares. OMV currently owns a 36% stake.

If the transaction with a purchase price of USD 4.68 bn (EUR 4.12 bn) takes place, Mubadala’s shareholding in Borealis would amount to 25%. The buy would expand OMV’s focus on petrochemicals. Mubadala also owns a 24.9% share in OMV. The potential transaction is subject to approval by the authorities.

Borealis generated sales of EUR 8.1 bn in 2019 – see Plasteurope.com of 03.03.2020. The Austrian producer has capacities for 1.7m t/y of polyethylene and 1.9m t/y of polypropylene, and with its joint venture Borouge (Ruwais / UAE; www.borouge.com) additional capacities for 2.7m t/y of PE and 1.8m t/y of PP. Borealis is also planning to buy Nova Chemicals’ (Calgary, Alberta / Canada; www.novachemicals.com) shares in their 50:50 joint venture Novealis Holdings – see Plasteurope.com of 14.01.2020. OMV’s unaudited revenue for fiscal 2019 was over EUR 23 bn. The group’s annual financial results will be published on 26 March 2020