TRESPAPHAN
Celanese sells OPP films business to Dor-Moplefan / European market leader
The Celanese group (D-61476 Kronberg; www.celanese.com) plans to sell its OPP films subsidiary Trespaphan (D-65479 Raunheim) to a consortium of Dor-Moplefan (I-05100 Terni; www.moplefan.com) and private equity group Bain Capital for EUR 200m. The deal, set to close at the end of 2002 if all regulatory authorities approve, will mark Celanese´s exit from the OPP sector and fulfil a promise made when it took over the chemical activities of the former Hoechst group in 1999, to “participate in the consolidation of the global films market.”
The integration of Trespaphan – which has annual sales of EUR 281m and employs 1,400 people – into Dor-Moplefan will create a new global player in PP films. The new group with EUR 500m in annual sales and 2,220 employees at plants in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium, as well as Australia, South Africa and Mexico, will take in the Moplefan activities sold by Basell (NL-2132 Hoofddorp; www.basell.com) in late 2001 to Dor Chemicals (Haifa 26110 Israel; www.dor-chemicals.co.il) in late 2001.
The new company, to be headed by Dor-Moplefan chairman Zvi Mor, will have an annual throughput of 250,000 t of PP films, including 210,000 t of OPP films, and will close ranks with the current world market leader ExxonMobil Chemical Films (www.oppfilms.com). In Europe, Dor-Moplefan will be market leader with more than 160,000 t/y of capacity. Negotiations between Hoechst and Mobil to merge their OPP activities fell through in 1998.
Plans by Dor to acquire North American OPP market leader Applied Extrusion Technology (AET; www.aetfilms.com) apparently have been abandoned. In mid October of this year, loss-making AET rejected an unsolicited takeover offer launched by the Israeli company in June, saying it preferred to concentrate on internal restructuring and hoped for a turnaround in 2003.
Worldwide annual consumption of OPP films, used primarily in food and cigarette packaging, labelling and capacitors, totalled 3m t in 2001. At 3.5m t (around a quarter of this in Europe), the market faces considerably overcapacity. With a global market share of more than 30%, the Asia-Pacific countries – led by China – are the largest consumer and enjoy the highest growth rates.
The integration of Trespaphan – which has annual sales of EUR 281m and employs 1,400 people – into Dor-Moplefan will create a new global player in PP films. The new group with EUR 500m in annual sales and 2,220 employees at plants in Italy, Germany, France and Belgium, as well as Australia, South Africa and Mexico, will take in the Moplefan activities sold by Basell (NL-2132 Hoofddorp; www.basell.com) in late 2001 to Dor Chemicals (Haifa 26110 Israel; www.dor-chemicals.co.il) in late 2001.
The new company, to be headed by Dor-Moplefan chairman Zvi Mor, will have an annual throughput of 250,000 t of PP films, including 210,000 t of OPP films, and will close ranks with the current world market leader ExxonMobil Chemical Films (www.oppfilms.com). In Europe, Dor-Moplefan will be market leader with more than 160,000 t/y of capacity. Negotiations between Hoechst and Mobil to merge their OPP activities fell through in 1998.
Plans by Dor to acquire North American OPP market leader Applied Extrusion Technology (AET; www.aetfilms.com) apparently have been abandoned. In mid October of this year, loss-making AET rejected an unsolicited takeover offer launched by the Israeli company in June, saying it preferred to concentrate on internal restructuring and hoped for a turnaround in 2003.
Worldwide annual consumption of OPP films, used primarily in food and cigarette packaging, labelling and capacitors, totalled 3m t in 2001. At 3.5m t (around a quarter of this in Europe), the market faces considerably overcapacity. With a global market share of more than 30%, the Asia-Pacific countries – led by China – are the largest consumer and enjoy the highest growth rates.
14.11.2002 Plasteurope.com [15391]
Published on 14.11.2002