STYROLUTION
EU approves BASF-Ineos joint venture plans / Tarragona ABS unit must be divested
The European Commission has cleared the formation of Styrolution (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.styrolution.com) as a 50:50 joint venture of BASF (Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) and Ineos (Lyndhurst /UK; www.ineos.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 31.05.2011. In return, the anti-trust authority said Ineos must sell its ABS production facilities at Tarragona / Spain, which it acquired in full from Lanxess in late 2007 – see Plasteurope.com of 08.10.2007. US authorities have already approved the plans.
Without the divestment, the EU said the asset merger would create a very strong player in a market where concentration is already high. At the same time, it noted that it “will not significantly modify the structure of the majority of the relevant markets, as a number of credible and significant competitors would continue to exercise a competitive constraint.”
The two chemical and plastics giants, which inked the joint venture contract on 30 May – see Plasteurope.com of 24.05.2011 – said earlier that the assets to be divested account for only 3% of the total value of the businesses proposed to be combined. Including Ineos Nova, sales totalled EUR 6.4 bn in 2010. EPS is not included in the transaction that will see Ineos pay an unspecified cash compensation to BASF. Until the deal closes later this year, the businesses will continue to operate separately.
The combination of the former number one and number four (or three, depending on what is counted) global styrenics market players will create a new leader with production sites in Europe, Asia and South America – see Plasteurope.com of 30.11.2010. The jv will have capacity for 1.8m t/y of polystyrene (PS), 2.5m t/y of styrene monomer (SM) and 960,000 t/y of ABS.
BASF, which is keeping its integrated SM production at Ludwigshafen and its shares in the joint ventures with Shell (Ellba) and Sinopec, will contribute global capacities of around 600,000 t/y of ABS, more than 650,000 t/y of PS and its SAN business, while Ineos is adding some 2m t/y of SM, 1.2m t/y of PS and 500,000 t/y of ABS – minus the capacity at Tarragona, last reported to total 80,000 t/y.
Without the divestment, the EU said the asset merger would create a very strong player in a market where concentration is already high. At the same time, it noted that it “will not significantly modify the structure of the majority of the relevant markets, as a number of credible and significant competitors would continue to exercise a competitive constraint.”
The two chemical and plastics giants, which inked the joint venture contract on 30 May – see Plasteurope.com of 24.05.2011 – said earlier that the assets to be divested account for only 3% of the total value of the businesses proposed to be combined. Including Ineos Nova, sales totalled EUR 6.4 bn in 2010. EPS is not included in the transaction that will see Ineos pay an unspecified cash compensation to BASF. Until the deal closes later this year, the businesses will continue to operate separately.
The combination of the former number one and number four (or three, depending on what is counted) global styrenics market players will create a new leader with production sites in Europe, Asia and South America – see Plasteurope.com of 30.11.2010. The jv will have capacity for 1.8m t/y of polystyrene (PS), 2.5m t/y of styrene monomer (SM) and 960,000 t/y of ABS.
BASF, which is keeping its integrated SM production at Ludwigshafen and its shares in the joint ventures with Shell (Ellba) and Sinopec, will contribute global capacities of around 600,000 t/y of ABS, more than 650,000 t/y of PS and its SAN business, while Ineos is adding some 2m t/y of SM, 1.2m t/y of PS and 500,000 t/y of ABS – minus the capacity at Tarragona, last reported to total 80,000 t/y.
02.06.2011 Plasteurope.com [219558-0]
Published on 02.06.2011