ALFA Mexico subsidiary Alpek acquires 100% stake in Lotte Chemical UK Ltd.
ALFA Mexico has announced that its subsidiary, Alpek, has signed an agreement with Lotte Chemical Corp. to acquire its 100% stake in Lotte Chemical UK Ltd. The deal includes a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) asset, with an installed capacity of 350,000 tpy, in Wilton, England.
This step marks Alpek’s first acquisition outside the Americas, as the company continues to grow its integrated polyester platform. It also expands ALFA’s global footprint to 29 countries by adding its first production facility in the UK.
Commenting, Gordon Haire, Wood Mackenzie Research Director, said: "This change of ownership marks the exit of Lotte Chemical from manufacturing PET in Europe. It also establishes a strong platform for Alpek to become a regional PET supplier in the European market. This may also have significant implications for regional purified terephthalic acid (PTA) trade flows, as Lotte Chemical exported around 110,000 tpy from Korea to the UK over the last few years. Similarly, Alpek is a long-established supplier into the European PTA market.
"Lotte Chemical has concluded that the UK PET business does not fit the Lotte Vision 2030. Instead, Lotte is likely to add more weight to the newly expanded purified isophthalic acid (PIA) business and reduce exposure to PTA."
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