By Q4 this year global polystyrene giant Styrolution (Frankfurt / Germany; www.styrolution.com) is expected to have become part of Swiss petrochemicals group Ineos (Rolle / Switzerland; www.ineos.com). The joint venture’s two owners – Ineos and BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) – sent out a relevant press release on 30 June, just before the close of Q2. If the European antitrust authorities give the go-ahead, Ineos will pay EUR 1.1 bn for BASF’s share in the jv, which the two companies first established in 2011 (for details, see Plasteurope.com of 30.11.2010). Ineos already had reserved a call option in the original shareholders’ agreement.

Commenting on the business, which is to become a subsidiary of Ineos Industries Holdings, the Swiss company’s chairman Jim Ratcliffe said, “Styrolution has fulfilled its promise as a globally competitive business that competes effectively with large-scale producers from Asia and the Middle East. We are pleased to bring Styrolution fully into the Ineos family.” He added that, “After the purchase, Styrolution will be run separately as a standalone company.” It remains unclear whether Roberto Gualdoni will remain as Styrolution CEO.

Plasteurope.com’s Polyglobe capacity database shows that Styrolution’s global styrene, PS, ABS and SAN capacities – spread across plants in Europe, North America and Asia – exceed 5m t/y. Of this, styrenics account for more than 1.7m t/y – making the company the world’s leading producer. With regard to output of SM feedstock, Styrolution ranks third among the world’s leading producers, Polyglobe shows.

The announcement follows last week’s news that Ineos had signed the final papers to carve out its PVC activities into a new 50:50 joint venture with Solvay (Brussels / Belgium; www.solvay.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 26.06.2014. Under the terms of the deal, the Swiss group will assume total control of the new Inovyn jv after three years.