Thailand’s Indorama Ventures acquires Bangkok Polyester

(updates with details on expansion plans from paragraph 4)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Thailand’s Indorama Ventures Ltd (IVL) is acquiring a 94.91% stake in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymers maker Bangkok Polyester from majority shareholder Bangkok Cable Company for an undisclosed fee, the producer said on Wednesday.

Bangkok Polyester has 105,000 tonnes/year of PET polymers capacity in Rayong province, Thailand, IVL said in a statement.

The transaction, subject to customary approval, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015, it added.

IVL’s PET segment accounts for half of the company’s overall production. As of end-2014, its PET capacity stood at 3.1m tonnes, up 7% from 2.9m tonnes in 2013.

In February, IVL had said it will shell out a total of $2.2bn in capital expenditures over three years (2015-2018)– $1.9bn for growth and $300m on maintenance. The capex will be funded through a combination of cash flow and debt.

If the total, $1.5bn or 68% will be used up in 2015 alone. The company has announced $600m worth of projects that it will invest on, with additional projects worth $900m “under active discussions”, it said in the notes accompanying its full-year financial results.

If all the projects are completed this year, IVL said that they should boost the company’s capacity by a quarter.

Among IVL’s acquisitions that will be completed this year is Polyplex Turkey – the Thai firm’s second plant acquisition in the European country.

The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, will bring Indorama’s capacity in Turkey to 382,000 tonnes/year, following its acquisition of the 130,000 tonnes/year Artenius Turkpet PET plant last year.

In December 2014, IVL had signed a definitive agreement to fully acquire Performance Fibers Asia (PF Asia), which producres 41,000 tonnes/year of polyester tyre cord frabic and 48,000 tonnes/year of polyester tyre cord yarn in China’s Guangdong province.

PF Asia’s acquisition is also expected to be completed in the first quarter.

Additional reporting by Pearl Bantillo

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections