BP Chemicals (www.bp.com; London) has taken two major steps towards fulfilling plans announced in January to quit the plastics fabrication business. At the beginning of April the oil and petrochemicals major said it would sell its “performance films” business for an undisclosed sum to Parkside Flexibles (GB-Normanton,Wakefield; www.parksideflexibles.com) and the films production of its German subsidiary BP PlasTec (D-89165 Dietenbaum) to Germany´s Rheinische Kunststoffwerke (RKW, D-67547 Worms; www.rkw-folien.de).

Created in 2000 through a management buyout at British Polythene Industries (BPI, GB-Greenock; www.bpipoly.com), Parkside produces stand-up pouches, shrink sleeves, laminates and plastic labels. It claims to have been the first OPP shrink sleeve converter in Europe. Parkside will take over BP production plants at Darton, UK, with processing capacity for 18,000 t/y of PE, and at Zlotow, Poland, with capacity of around 3,000 t/y to produce a wide range of flexible packaging materials. According to CEO Geoffrey Stewart, the company is on the lookout for “more international acquisitions.”

With the acquisition of PlasTec, RKW subsidiary of Renolit AG (D-67547 Worms) will become Europe´s second largest PE films producer. It will take over four BP sites at Gronau, Nordhorn, Wasserburg/Inn and Michelstadt, Germany, with total annual throughput of more than 80,000 t. Wasserburg and Nordhorn produce polyolefin films for hygienic and medical applications, along with speciality industrial and packaging films. Gronau manufactures nonwovens and laminates with nonwovens for hygienic and industrial uses. Michelstadt specialises in agricultural films and nets. RKW also is acquiring the US-based “Aptra” activities for breathable PP industrial films. With the BP takeover, RKW´s films division, with annual sales of EUR 500m.