It looks as if the acquisition of the Argentinian activities of Brazilian PVC producer Solvay Indupa (São Paulo) by resin major Braskem (São Paulo; www.braskem.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 20.12.2013 – will not happen as smoothly as both parties had planned. Argentina's exchange authorities, the Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV), recently rejected the offer by the Brazilian petrochem company to purchase 30% of the publicly traded shares. Solvay (Brussels / Belgium. www.solvay.com) acquired the Buenos Aires-based company in 1996 from a Dow Chemical-led consortium.

According to the country's stock regulators, the offer by Braskem to purchase each share at ARS 1.35 (EUR 0.15) was much lower than the 30 September book value of ARS 2.81; not to mention Q4 average valuations of ARS 5.70. CNV reached its decision in the interests of the minority shareholders in the company. In December, Braskem planned on purchasing 70.59% of the Indupa shares for USD 290m (EUR 211m) and a bid for the remaining for the publicly traded shares was part of the overall deal.

Created in 1948, Solvay Indupa is South America’s second-largest PVC producer and fourth-largest caustic soda producer. With 936 employees and two production sites in Argentina and Brazil, Solvay Indupa reported net sales of EUR 542m in 2012. Media reports state that when Braskem succeeds in closing the deal, it will mark the Brazilian giant's entry into the Argentine market.