Ciech asks Poland for joint sell-off with ZAT, ZAK

18 August 2008 17:07 [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Poland's Ciech has asked the govenment to adjust the chemical industry privatisation process so that it can be jointly sold off with nitrogen fertilizer firms Zaklady Azotowe Tarnow (ZAT) and Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn (ZAK), it said on Monday.

“The proposal we have shown to the treasury minister Alexander Grad is to create a bigger chemical company - Ciech plus, for example, Tarnow plus Kedzierzyn - and for the privatisation of this bigger player to take place in the very close future,” said Ciech spokesman Mariusz Przybylski.

Ciech's case has been strengthened by the current Warsaw stock market malaise which contributed to the underselling of shares offered in a June initial public offering (IPO) for ZAT, also a producer of caprolactam and plastics.

“We believe in 12 months' time market conditions will be better than they are now,” Przybylski said. “In 12 months all our investors could benefit more than they could now.”

If Grad agreed to Ciech's plan, the IPO scheduled for later this year of ZAK, also a maker of a modest amount of plastics and petrochemicals, would be cancelled.

The new Polish government's revived national privatisation programme includes a commitment to privatise its holdings in all 19 chemical companies still under state control by 2011.

Ciech was the largest chemical concern in Poland, grouping more than 30 companies, Przybylski said.

“So we have all the tools to create bigger value for shareholders in the very close future,” he added.

Its main products included soda ash, salt, fertilizers, epoxy resins and other basic organic chemistry products used in the glass, furniture, construction and agricultural industries.

ZAT offered 16m shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange but only 15.1m were sold. Ciech itself picked up a 6.5% stake.

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By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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