Tessenderlo to sell Europe PVC, chlor-alkali units to INEOS for €110mn
Tessenderlo will sell its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and chlor-alkali businesses to INEOS subsidiary Kerling for €110 million, the companies said on Tuesday.
Kerling, through its INEOS ChlorVinyls business, will purchase Tessenderlo’s PVC activities, including VCM (vinyl chloride monomer), chlor-alkali and part of organic chlorine derivatives, it said.
Besides the major plant at Tessenderlo in Belgium, the production plants in France (Mazingarbe) and the Netherlands (Beek and Maastricht) are involved, the companies said. These businesses employ about 850 people. This transaction is subject to European merger control approval.
The purchase price is €110mn on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
Frank Coenen, CEO of Tessenderlo, said: “In light of our announced strategy - focusing on specialities - we looked for a long time for the right home for these businesses. Our well-invested assets together with our highly competent workforce are both strengths that were recognized by INEOSChlorVinyls.”
Ariel Levin, partner at advising firm The Valence Group, said: “This move will likely prove to be the pivotal step in Tessenderlo’s strategic transformation into a specialty chemical company. Intra-European consolidation within the PVC sector has had many false starts and we believe this could be a turning point in that process. The PVC sector is a challenging one and the commercial, strategic and transactional issues are very specific to the sector.”
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