A 40% stake of Italian compounder Finproject (Morrovalle; www.finproject.com) will soon belong to compatriot petrochemical group Versalis (Milan; www.versalis.eni.com). The Milan-based company said the aim of the acquisition is to build up an integrated value chain for speciality polymers. The deal is still subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities. Information on whether Versalis has an option on further shares was initially not available on request.

According to Versalis CEO Daniele Ferrari, the company plans to develop solutions for fashion, design and footwear – areas in which Finproject is already an important supplier. In addition to these, there is also a focus on materials for industrial applications such as pipes, wiring and automotive engineering.

Finproject, which specialises in polyolefin and PVC compounds as well as injection-moulded, foam parts made of these, has been majority-owned by investment firm VEI Capital (Milan; www.veicapital.it) since 2015. The Morrovalle-based company operates 11 plants and development centres worldwide. Half of these are located in Italy, the rest in Canada, China, India, Mexico, Romania and Vietnam. In 2017, Finproject acquired the crosslinkable polyolefin compound activities of Solvay (Brussels / Belgium; www.solvay.com) in Italy.

For some years now, Versalis – which specialises in intermediates such as styrene and butadiene as well as polyethylene, styrene copolymers and elastomers – has been working to restructure its product range to include elastomer types with higher added value. The most recent investment by the subsidiary of energy group Eni (Rome / Italy; www.eni.com) was in EPDM production in Ferrara / Italy, which was put into operation at the end of 2018 – see Plasteurope.com of 24.09.2018. Versalis has also started to develop chemical recycling plans – see Plasteurope.com of 25.02.2020.