PCC has three more weeks for ZAK, ZAT acquisitions

23 March 2010 13:09  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Poland has agreed to give Germany's Petro Carbo Chem (PCC) three more weeks to exclusively negotiate the purchase of majority stakes in chemical firms Zaklady Azoty Tarnow (ZAT) and Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn (ZAK), the Polish treasury ministry said on Tuesday.

A ministry source close to the talks said: "The negotiations are obviously tricky in this investment climate because we need to stick to our commitment to taxpayers not to sell at any price, but only at a fair price, and PCC has its own ideas of market value."

PCC was yet to complete the necessary pre-acquisition moves such as consulting with the unions about the proposed deal, he added.

PCC and a state body, chemical industry restructuring agency Nafta Polska, now have until 12 April to reach a deal on the purchase of 53% of fertilizer, caprolactam and polymer producer ZAT and 86% of nitrogen fertilizer, plastics and oxo-alcohols producer ZAK, the ministry said.

The German company has also expressed an interest in acquiring a controlling stake in Poland's largest chemical group and second-largest European soda ash producer Ciech. However, the privatisation of Ciech has been postponed until it secures a refinancing of its major loans from a group of banks.

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By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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