M&As: KBR invests US$100 mn in recycler Mura; Geon pumps up PVC assets with compounder Cary

Technology firm KBR says it will invest an additional US$100 million in Mura Technology bringing KBR’s aggregate investment in Mura to 18.5%.

This investment provides Mura incremental capital to accelerate development of its plastics recycling projects and enables KBR to participate more fully in this sustainability-focused, high growth sector. Funding is expected in two tranches with the first payment in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and the remainder in 2023.

Mura’s mission is to commercialise its differentiated plastics recycling solution to enable a plastic-neutral, sustainable future by providing an end-to-end process to convert mixed waste plastic back to high quality chemical feedstocks. Targeting 1 million tonnes/year of recycling capacity in operation or development by 2025, Mura licenses its technology through KBR to a global client base and is also developing its own portfolio of global sites.

“The combination of Mura’s game-changing Hydro-PRT technology with KBR’s scalable engineering and licensing expertise has now established a world-leading alliance in the advanced recycling of plastics," said Steve Mahon, CEO of Mura Technology.

In early 2021, KBR entered into an alliance to become Mura’s exclusive licensing partner, broadening the addressable market and customer access for this highly differentiated plastics recycling technology. Together, KBR and Mura have won numerous license awards and feasibility studies. This alliance has also produced advances in process technology innovation such as closed loop power, water recycling, modularisation and digital operating solutions. Through this partnership, KBR may also expand its engagement on Mura’s own projects to provide advanced engineering, program management and integration expertise.

In other news, US material supplier Geon Performance Solutions, a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, has acquired US-based PVC compounder Cary Compounds. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Geon will consolidate the Cary assets into its manufacturing campuses. The deal is the second for Geon in six months – in December 2021, it bought Roscom Inc, which has an ISO9001:2015-certified PVC compounding facility located in Croydon, Pennsylvania.

“The Cary name has long been synonymous with quality and high-end formulas dating back to Ken Cary who started the business in 1999. Charlie Cary and the team have built on that reputation in the wire and cable industry, with exceptional formulary, customer service and manufacturing expertise as its key differentiators,” said Geon CEO Tracy Garrison.

Geon is headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, and operates11 manufacturing plants worldwide, including a plant in Dongguan, China.

(PRA)

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