M&As: LyondellBasell acquires minority share in plastic waste sourcing firm; Kemira divests oil/gas business to Sterling for EUR260 mn

Chemical firm LyondellBasell (LYB) says it has acquired a minority share in Source One GmbH, Leiferde, Germany, a plastic waste sourcing and engineering company, specialised in developing technical solutions for hard-to-recycle post-consumer plastic waste. Both LYB and Landbell Group will be shareholders in Source One. Landbell is a global service provider who operates a comprehensive network of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and take-back organisations worldwide.

50% of the shares in Source One will be held by 23 Oaks Investments, Leiferde, Germany, which together with LYB has formed the joint venture Source One Plastics in 2022. Source One Plastics is currently building an energy efficient, advanced plastic waste sorting and recycling facility in Germany.

This strategic investment provides LYB access to Source One's engineering and plastic waste sourcing services. It also establishes a relationship with Landbell to provide plastic packaging waste volumes for LYB’s advanced recycling operations. Processing plastic waste volumes from EPR Service Providers such as Landbell reinforces the commitment by LYB to support brand owners to close the loop for plastic packaging.

Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell Executive Vice President, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions, said, “With the investment in Source One we are taking another important step to secure access to plastic waste for our recycling activities and to strengthen our Circulen product portfolio of material made from recyclable or renewable resources.”

“We are very pleased to welcome LYB as a global partner to Source One,” says Uwe Echteler, COO of Landbell. “The expertise in the production and processing of plastics and the resulting opportunities to close loops will further accelerate the innovative strength of Source One and the Landbell Group.”

In other news, in a move to focus on its core businesses, Finnish chemicals company Kemira has decided to divest its oil and gas-related portfolio for EUR260 million to Sterling Specialty Chemicals, a US subsidiary of Artek Industries, a global industrial chemicals group based in India.

Kemira and Sterling Specialty Chemicals have also entered into a long-term partnership, consisting of contract manufacturing agreements in both directions.

“The divestment of the oil & gas business will clarify our focus on sustainability and our strategic priorities: we want to expand in water, build a leading renewables portfolio and digital services business,” said Petri Castrén, interim President/CEO at Kemira.

He also added that it allows Kemira to look for growth within its water treatment and pulp & paper businesses and also to explore new growth opportunities.

“The acquisition of a high-quality oil & gas-related portfolio from Kemira is another step in our global vision and growth strategy of becoming a leading specialty chemicals player,” commented Vishal Goenka, director at Artek.

The revenue to be carved-out from Kemira was around EUR430 million in 2022. This includes Kemira’s oil & gas business, which had a revenue of EUR373 million in 2022. The remaining carved-out revenue of around EUR57 million consisted of non-oil & gas industrial polymer sales through indirect channels.

Approximately 250 employees are expected to transfer to the buyer as part of the transaction, which includes Kemira’s US manufacturing facilities in Mobile, Columbus and Aberdeen as well as the Teesport manufacturing facility in the UK, the latter being subject to certain site-specific closing conditions being fulfilled.

The novel liquid polymer (NLP) manufacturing assets, which are part of Kemira’s manufacturing facility in Botlek, the Netherlands, are included in the deal as well, but Kemira said it will continue to operate the plant under a long-term agreement and will retain the employees.

The transaction, will be carried out as a combination of a share and assets sale, is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2024 but is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals before completion.

(PRA)

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