Thai refiner and petrochemical producer IRPC, part of state-owned oil and gas corporation PTT (Bangkok / Thailand; www.pttplc.com), plans to acquire a 25% stake in UBE Chemicals (Asia) for THB 5.3 bn (EUR 133m). To clinch the deal it will subscribe to 193.48m new shares issued as part of a UBE equity increase as well as buying 75m existing shares in the company.

UBE Chemicals is currently owned to 92.67% by UBE Industries (Tokyo/Japan; www.ube.com) and to 5.49% by Japan’s Marubeni (Tokyo; www.marubeni.com). Most of its feedstock is acquired from IRPC. Last year, the company established in 2010 through the merger of Thai Caprolactam and UBE Nylon – see Plasteurope.com of 01.09.2010 – reported revenue of THB 15.7 bn (EUR 373m) and a net profit of THB 1.8 bn (EUR 42m), up from THB 1.03 bn in 2010.

The Thai company is a leading global producer of caprolactam (130,000 t/y) and PA 6 (75,000 t/y), with production facilities in Rayong province. IRPC said it expects the takeover in particular to help upgrade its portfolio toward higher value-added engineering plastics.