Indorama Ventures to acquire SK Chemicals' Polish polyester assets

09 December 2010 11:14  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Thailand's Indorama Ventures (IVL) has signed an agreement to acquire Korea's SK Chemicals' polyester assets in Poland, SK Eurochem, in order to consolidate its position in the emerging market of eastern Europe, the polymer company said on Thursday.

IVL has also agreed to acquire SK Chemicals' polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin manufacturer PT SK Keris, together with its polyester fibres and yarns subsidiary PT SK Fiber in Indonesia, as the group looks to expand its presence in southeast Asia, it added

Financial information on the acquisition was not disclosed.

SK Eurochem is a 140,000 tonnes/year PET manufacturing facility in Poland, while SK Keris is a 160,000 tonnes/year PET and polyester filament yarn manufacturing facility in Indonesia and SK Fiber is a polyester filament yarn manufacturing facility with a capacity of 36,000 tonnes/year, IVL said.

"The business and markets of these SK Chemicals' assets are in new and attractive geographic regions that Indorama has been keen to develop,” said Aloke Lohia, group CEO of IVL.

“These acquisitions will allow the company to build upon its objective of expanding its global platform by entering emerging markets with high long-term potential for demand,” he added.

IVL said the acquisition of SK Eurochem in Poland was virtually integrated with a third-party supplier of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), which would further consolidate the company's low-cost structure.

In November, Indorama signed an agreement with US-based PET producer Invista to acquire two of the latter’s polyester resins and polyester staple assets in the US and Mexico. Indorama said it was now one of the largest producers of polymer for films serving markets in Asia, Europe, the US and Latin America.

"These new acquisitions in Indonesia along with previously announced plans in [the US] and Mexico will allow us to offer a broader range of specialist polymers and fibres to serve customers in Asia and [the] Americas," Lohia said.

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By: Franco Capaldo
+44 (0)20 8652 3214

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