NEWS


BASF to buy Solvay’s polyamide business


BASF is to buy Solvay’s integrated PA business for €1.6bn. The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals and gaining consent from Solvay’s current joint venture partner, Invista, which operates the Bu- tachimie adiponitrile opera- tion in France. It is expected to close in Q3 2018. For Solvay, CEO Jean-


Pierre Clamadieu said the sale “marks a tipping point in the profound transformation journey we began four years ago” and reinforces its new position as a diversified speciality chemicals group. Solvay will retain its upstream intermediates and its downstream textile polyam- ide business in Latin America. BASF said the deal will complement its engineering plastics portfolio and expand its position in the transporta- tion, construction, industrial and consumer sectors. In addition, it said it will gain


Solvay, CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu: sale marks a tipping point


better access to the Asian and South American markets, increase polymerisation capacities, and improve its backward integration into adipodinitrile, the key raw material for PA 66. In a separate statement, Invista said it welcomed BASF as its future partner in the Butachimie joint venture, subject to agreement and delivery of definitive


documents. In 2016, the PA business


being transferred had net sales of €1.3bn and EBITDA of about €200m. It has around 2,400 employees, just over half in France, and operates 12 production sites, four R&D locations and 10 technical support centres. It will be integrated into BASF’s Performance Materials & Monomers divisions. n In a separate move, Solvay has announced plans to start manufacturing polyetherk- etoneketone (PEKK) resins under the Novaspire trade name at its site at Augusta, Georgia, US, from 2018. No details were given of the capacity or investment level, but the company said that demand for thermoplastic composites and 3D printing components in aerospace and other markets is growing rapidly. � www.basf.com � www.solvay.com


A Shulman exploring sale, says US media


Global compounding group A Schulman is exploring sale options, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Citing sources close to the matter, WSJ said the company has appointed Citigroup and the process is at a very early stage.


Schulman posted sales


of around $2.5bn last year and a net loss on a GAAP basis of $365m. The company’s performance has been impacted by product liability issues relating to its US acquisi- tion in 2015 of Citadel, weaker global economics and foreign currency issues. In July it revised its 2017 guidance down as rising raw materials prices squeezed margins in Europe. � www.aschulman.com


SABIC adds PP extrusion at Geleen


SABIC has opened a new PP pilot plant and announced a new investment in a high-tech PP extrusion facility at its Global Technology Centre for Europe at Geleen in the Netherlands (a former DSM facility). The pilot plant is already in operation and will be used to develop next generation PP materials using gas-phase polymerisation technology. SABIC said the focus will be on impact grades, random copolymers and homopolymers, while also experimenting on advanced catalysts. The highly automated PP extrusion line, meanwhile, is


expected to be in operation in Q4. It will supply advanced materials for lightweight applications in industries such as packaging, appliances, automotive and healthcare. � www.sabic.com


www.compoundingworld.com October 2017 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 5


SABIC’s Geleen Technology Centre is to gain PP extrusion equipment


PHOTO: SOLVAY


PHOTO: SABIC


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