Austrian polyolefin manufacturer Borealis (Vienna; www.borealisgroup.com) has a new majority shareholder after compatriot oil and gas company OMV (Vienna; www.omv.com) acquired a further 39% stake in the producer from the investment firm Mubadala (Abu Dhabi / United Arab Emirates; www.mubadala.com) on 29 October 2020. According to the agreement first announced in March (see Plasteurope.com of 12.03.2020), the transaction was completed on schedule and in accordance with regulatory requirements. OMV now holds a 75% stake in Borealis, with Mubadala retaining the remaining 25%. The purchase price of the transaction was reported at USD 4.68 bn (EUR 3.96 bn).

The acquisition of a controlling majority in Borealis makes OMV one of the leading suppliers of polyolefins and basic chemicals. OMV CEO and GM Rainer Seele said, “We are thus expanding the OMV value chain in the direction of higher-quality chemical products and recycling.” There are also plans to jointly expand activities in the sector of a circular economy for plastics.

Borealis currently has more than 6,800 employees in over 120 countries. It owns around 1.7m t/y of polyethylene capacity and 1.9m t/y for polypropylene. However, things have not gone well operationally for Borealis. The group announced a 2020 third-quarter net profit of EUR 163m, which exceeded the previous quarter’s result, but the number was down 56% from the year-earlier period (see Plasteurope.com of 09.11.2020).

Additionally, global uncertainties caused by the virus pandemic have led to the postponement of a joint chemical complex in India with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc, Abu Dhabi / United Arab Emirates; www.adnoc.ae), Germany’s BASF (Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) and the Indian conglomerate Adani Group (Ahmedabad, Gujarat; www.adani.com).