Following clearance by the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission, INEOS has successfully completed the purchase of Innovene, BP's olefins, derivatives and refining subsidiary. The acquisition creates a combined business with a turnover of around $33bn.
The purchase of the Innovene business for $9bn fits well with the INEOS strategy to create a petrochemical company that has the scale to compete globally, supported by a sustainable cost base. The addition of the Lavéra and Grangemouth refineries also provides significant opportunities to integrate INEOS’s existing operations with upstream raw materials.
Following the completion of the deal, announced today, INEOS will begin the process of fully integrating Innovene into its organisation. The review of Innovene’s operations, products and markets, which began in October, quickly confirmed the complementary fit of the two companies, but the detailed design of the ongoing structure continues. Shortly after the completion of the deal Innovene will assume the INEOS name and be focused into product-line business entities, along similar lines to INEOS’s existing organisational model.
The sale of BP’s ethylene oxide business at Köln will proceed as a separate part of the Innovene purchase, with its own separate regulatory approval.
For further media enquiries:
Richard Longden.
Phone: +44 1928 513064
Website: www.ineos.com
Ben Moxham
Phone: +44 (0)7989 566560
Website: www.innovene.com
Note to editors:
INEOS is a rapidly growing manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality and intermediate chemicals and polymers. The company was formed by a management buy out of the former BP petrochemicals asset in Antwerp, which was led by Jim Ratcliffe, who is now its Chairman. The company has subsequently grown through a series of successful acquisitions and continues to build on businesses that have good people and assets, supported by strong market positions and a potential for further growth.
The new enlarged INEOS includes 68 manufacturing facilities in 14 countries throughout the world. It will have approximately 15,600 employees, generating more than 30 million tonnes of petrochemicals and sales of around $33 bn.
Innovene was a 100 per cent BP-owned group, created in April 2005. It has manufacturing facilities in seven countries in North America and Europe; $25 billion estimated sales for 2005; $9.9 billion of net assets; 18 million tonnes of annual petrochemicals capacity and 412,000 barrels per day of crude oil refining capacity in Europe.