Saudi SABIC sells $950M in overseas assets amid global chemicals slump
The global chemicals industry is facing a slowdown due to high energy prices, stagnant economic growth, investment shifts and trade tensions.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp is offloading major petrochemicals and plastics assets in Europe and the Americas for $950 million as the chemicals company restructures its portfolio amid a prolonged global industry slowdown.
What happened: The Riyadh-based firm agreed to sell its European petrochemicals business to German investment firm AEQUITA for $500 million and its engineering thermoplastics (ETP) operations in the Americas and Europe to Munich-based turnaround specialist Mutares for $450 million, SABIC said in a release on Thursday.
SABIC’s European petrochemicals business produces and markets products including ethylene, propylene, low- and high-density polyethylene and polypropylene. It has manufacturing sites in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
The American and European ETP business produces polycarbonate, polybutylene terephthalate and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin and compounds and has manufacturing sites in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and the Netherlands.
