- Email: [email protected]
BASF plans transformation into European Company, sets new sales record
Additives for Polymers
but its development was limited at that stage. Initially, Ampacet Europe worked extensively through agents but gradually opened direct sales offices as it gained experience throughout the continent. In the ten years from 1986 to 1996, Ampacet Europe quadrupled its annual production capacity from 15 000 to 65 000 tonnes. In 1996 the decision was taken to expand through acquisitions. Tisco, located in Telgate, Italy, was Ampacet’s first European acquisition and quickly became a specialist manufacturing site for additive masterbatch. To increase manufacturing capacity and strengthen its position in the colour masterbatch market, Ampacet Europe acquired Polimaster, also located in Italy, in 2003. The volume of colour masterbatch sales in Europe instantly doubled from 3000 to 6000 tonnes per year. In 2004 Ampacet Europe acquired Polycolor in Telford, UK, and in the following year Sembodja in Poland. Ampacet Poland has since become a strategic business platform for Central & Eastern Europe. The company is now assessing the possibility of implementing strategic business platforms in Russia, Turkey and the Middle East. For the near-term, Ampacet Europe’s objective is to keep investing in the colour business, and to this end a new production line devoted to colour masterbatch will shortly be implemented at Messancy. The installation of a triple-layer blow moulding machine for product development and colour matching is also planned at one of its European colour laboratories. In addition, the company says it intends to improve its service level. For the global company, high raw material costs are a significant issue. To address this, Ampacet says it is conducting research to develop a polymer originating from natural resources and is also evaluating the possibility of extracting non-contaminated carbon black from the recycling of used tyres; both measures would lower its raw material costs, as well as having a positive impact on the environment. Contact: Ampacet Corp, 660 White Plains Rd, Tarrytown, NY 10591-5130, USA; fax: +1-914631-7197; URL: www.ampacet.com
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April 2007
COMPANY STRATEGIES BASF plans transformation into European Company, sets new sales record BASF Aktiengesellschaft’s management is considering the transformation of the company into a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) with the name BASF SE. The company’s headquarters and chief administrative offices would remain in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The proposal will be put to shareholders at the Annual Meeting in late April. According to BASF’s chairman of the board Dr Jürgen Hambrecht, the European Company is a modern legal form for a global company whose home market is in Europe. In 2006, BASF posted approximately 60% of its sales in Europe and employed around two-thirds of its global workforce of more than 95 000 employees in the region. The transformation into a European Company is also intended to further strengthen corporate governance at BASF. BASF recently reported record annual sales of 52.6 billion, an increase of more than 23% to break the 50 billion mark for the first time, with the businesses acquired in 2006 contributing 4.2 billion to this amount. EBIT before special items was also a record high, up 18.2% at 7.26 billion. Hambrecht credits the growth to the company’s “ambitious team” and “valueenhancing acquisitions”, aided by the “economic tailwind”. “At the same time, we have broadened our competence and have become more resilient to cyclicality,” he adds. Sales in the Performance Products segment, which includes BASF’s inorganic and organic colorants, light stabilizers and colour masterbatches for plastics, rose by 23% to more than 10 billion as a result of the newly acquired businesses. EBIT before special items declined, however, due to integration and restructuring costs and declining margins, in particular for acrylic monomers. The Chemicals segment (which includes BASF’s plasticizer products) posted record sales of 11.6 billion up 43%, with EBIT before special items also a new
April 2007
Additives for Polymers
high at 1.7 billion. In the Plastics segment, higher volumes and price increases led to a 9% improvement in sales to 12.8 billion and 18% rise in EBIT before special items to 1.2 billion. Hambrecht’s outlook for 2007 is positive, based on forecast global economic growth of 3.2% and a similar increase in global chemical production. Significantly higher full year sales are expected in 2007 compared with 2006.
company says that the expansion was needed to meet the growing demand of the tyre industry to produce more fuel-efficient, high-performance tyres.
Contact: BASF AG, Carl-Bosch-Straße 38, D67065 Ludwigshafen, Germany; tel: +49-621-600; fax: +49-621-60-42525; URL: www.basf.de
Lyondell to sell Millennium TiO2 business to Saudi firm
Degussa divests antioxidants business, completes US silica expansion Düsseldorf-based Degussa GmbH is selling its antioxidant activities to a subsidiary of the Starnberg holding company ARQUES Industries AG. The transaction includes the sale of the Spanish head office in Barcelona (Degussa Sant Celoni SA) and the antioxidants business of the British company Degussa Knottingley Ltd. Financial terms have not been disclosed. The sale is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities and cartel offices but Degussa and ARQUES expected the transaction to be finalized in the first quarter of 2007. Degussa’s antioxidants business comprises products for plastics, lubricants, foods and paints as well as beauty care and wellness. In fiscal 2005 it employed about 140 staff and generated sales of approximately 60 million. Dr Klaus Engel, chairman of Degussa’s management board, says that the transaction is part of the company’s “systematic portfolio optimization”, divesting an activity that is not part of its core business. “We will continue to focus on highly profitable speciality chemicals,” he adds. In other company news, Degussa’s Advanced Fillers & Pigments (AF&P) business unit has recently completed what it describes as a “major expansion” at its precipitated silica plant in Chester, PA, USA. Through debottlenecking and yield improvement of existing equipment, several million pounds of capacity have been added, raising the facility’s annual capacity to around 85 million lbs (39 000 tonnes). The
Contact: Degussa AG, Karl-Arnold-Platz 1a, D-40474 Düsseldorf, Germany; tel: +49-21165041-0; fax: +49-211-65041-555; URL: www. degussa.de
Lyondell Chemical Co has agreed to sell its Millennium Inorganic Chemicals subsidiary to Saudi Arabian company National Titanium Dioxide Company Ltd, also known as Cristal. Millennium Inorganic is the world’s secondlargest producer of widely used white pigment titanium dioxide (TiO2), with an annual capacity of 670 000 tonnes, around 2900 associated employees and facilities in North and South America, Europe and Australia. The transaction is valued at approximately US$1.2 billion, and will include a cash payment of $1.05 billion plus the assumption of certain liabilities directly related to the business. Lyondell estimates its after-tax proceeds at $975 million. Closure of the deal is subject to the usual regulatory and other conditions and is expected to occur in the first half of 2007. Privately held Cristal, which is 66% owned by Saudi group Tasnee, is currently the world’s ninth largest producer of TiO2 and the only producer in the Middle East and North Africa. It has production capacity of 100 000 tonnes/year and exports to more than 70 countries. Cristal intends to continue operating the assets it will acquire from Lyondell. “The acquisition of Millennium Inorganic Chemicals is an exciting component of our continued growth story,” says Cristal chairman and CEO Dr Talal Al-Shair. Lyondell acquired the inorganic chemicals business in its 2004 purchase of Millennium Chemicals Inc [ADPO, May 2004]. The agreed sale will not impact other Millennium subsidiaries. “This transaction would allow us to accelerate our debt repayment and focus our resources on capturing the synergies between our refinery and our chemicals business to achieve the great-
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but its development was limited at that stage. Initially, Ampacet Europe worked extensively through agents but gradually opened direct sales offices as it gained experience throughout the continent. In the ten years from 1986 to 1996, Ampacet Europe quadrupled its annual production capacity from 15 000 to 65 000 tonnes. In 1996 the decision was taken to expand through acquisitions. Tisco, located in Telgate, Italy, was Ampacet’s first European acquisition and quickly became a specialist manufacturing site for additive masterbatch. To increase manufacturing capacity and strengthen its position in the colour masterbatch market, Ampacet Europe acquired Polimaster, also located in Italy, in 2003. The volume of colour masterbatch sales in Europe instantly doubled from 3000 to 6000 tonnes per year. In 2004 Ampacet Europe acquired Polycolor in Telford, UK, and in the following year Sembodja in Poland. Ampacet Poland has since become a strategic business platform for Central & Eastern Europe. The company is now assessing the possibility of implementing strategic business platforms in Russia, Turkey and the Middle East. For the near-term, Ampacet Europe’s objective is to keep investing in the colour business, and to this end a new production line devoted to colour masterbatch will shortly be implemented at Messancy. The installation of a triple-layer blow moulding machine for product development and colour matching is also planned at one of its European colour laboratories. In addition, the company says it intends to improve its service level. For the global company, high raw material costs are a significant issue. To address this, Ampacet says it is conducting research to develop a polymer originating from natural resources and is also evaluating the possibility of extracting non-contaminated carbon black from the recycling of used tyres; both measures would lower its raw material costs, as well as having a positive impact on the environment. Contact: Ampacet Corp, 660 White Plains Rd, Tarrytown, NY 10591-5130, USA; fax: +1-914631-7197; URL: www.ampacet.com
4
April 2007
COMPANY STRATEGIES BASF plans transformation into European Company, sets new sales record BASF Aktiengesellschaft’s management is considering the transformation of the company into a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) with the name BASF SE. The company’s headquarters and chief administrative offices would remain in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The proposal will be put to shareholders at the Annual Meeting in late April. According to BASF’s chairman of the board Dr Jürgen Hambrecht, the European Company is a modern legal form for a global company whose home market is in Europe. In 2006, BASF posted approximately 60% of its sales in Europe and employed around two-thirds of its global workforce of more than 95 000 employees in the region. The transformation into a European Company is also intended to further strengthen corporate governance at BASF. BASF recently reported record annual sales of 52.6 billion, an increase of more than 23% to break the 50 billion mark for the first time, with the businesses acquired in 2006 contributing 4.2 billion to this amount. EBIT before special items was also a record high, up 18.2% at 7.26 billion. Hambrecht credits the growth to the company’s “ambitious team” and “valueenhancing acquisitions”, aided by the “economic tailwind”. “At the same time, we have broadened our competence and have become more resilient to cyclicality,” he adds. Sales in the Performance Products segment, which includes BASF’s inorganic and organic colorants, light stabilizers and colour masterbatches for plastics, rose by 23% to more than 10 billion as a result of the newly acquired businesses. EBIT before special items declined, however, due to integration and restructuring costs and declining margins, in particular for acrylic monomers. The Chemicals segment (which includes BASF’s plasticizer products) posted record sales of 11.6 billion up 43%, with EBIT before special items also a new
April 2007
Additives for Polymers
high at 1.7 billion. In the Plastics segment, higher volumes and price increases led to a 9% improvement in sales to 12.8 billion and 18% rise in EBIT before special items to 1.2 billion. Hambrecht’s outlook for 2007 is positive, based on forecast global economic growth of 3.2% and a similar increase in global chemical production. Significantly higher full year sales are expected in 2007 compared with 2006.
company says that the expansion was needed to meet the growing demand of the tyre industry to produce more fuel-efficient, high-performance tyres.
Contact: BASF AG, Carl-Bosch-Straße 38, D67065 Ludwigshafen, Germany; tel: +49-621-600; fax: +49-621-60-42525; URL: www.basf.de
Lyondell to sell Millennium TiO2 business to Saudi firm
Degussa divests antioxidants business, completes US silica expansion Düsseldorf-based Degussa GmbH is selling its antioxidant activities to a subsidiary of the Starnberg holding company ARQUES Industries AG. The transaction includes the sale of the Spanish head office in Barcelona (Degussa Sant Celoni SA) and the antioxidants business of the British company Degussa Knottingley Ltd. Financial terms have not been disclosed. The sale is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities and cartel offices but Degussa and ARQUES expected the transaction to be finalized in the first quarter of 2007. Degussa’s antioxidants business comprises products for plastics, lubricants, foods and paints as well as beauty care and wellness. In fiscal 2005 it employed about 140 staff and generated sales of approximately 60 million. Dr Klaus Engel, chairman of Degussa’s management board, says that the transaction is part of the company’s “systematic portfolio optimization”, divesting an activity that is not part of its core business. “We will continue to focus on highly profitable speciality chemicals,” he adds. In other company news, Degussa’s Advanced Fillers & Pigments (AF&P) business unit has recently completed what it describes as a “major expansion” at its precipitated silica plant in Chester, PA, USA. Through debottlenecking and yield improvement of existing equipment, several million pounds of capacity have been added, raising the facility’s annual capacity to around 85 million lbs (39 000 tonnes). The
Contact: Degussa AG, Karl-Arnold-Platz 1a, D-40474 Düsseldorf, Germany; tel: +49-21165041-0; fax: +49-211-65041-555; URL: www. degussa.de
Lyondell Chemical Co has agreed to sell its Millennium Inorganic Chemicals subsidiary to Saudi Arabian company National Titanium Dioxide Company Ltd, also known as Cristal. Millennium Inorganic is the world’s secondlargest producer of widely used white pigment titanium dioxide (TiO2), with an annual capacity of 670 000 tonnes, around 2900 associated employees and facilities in North and South America, Europe and Australia. The transaction is valued at approximately US$1.2 billion, and will include a cash payment of $1.05 billion plus the assumption of certain liabilities directly related to the business. Lyondell estimates its after-tax proceeds at $975 million. Closure of the deal is subject to the usual regulatory and other conditions and is expected to occur in the first half of 2007. Privately held Cristal, which is 66% owned by Saudi group Tasnee, is currently the world’s ninth largest producer of TiO2 and the only producer in the Middle East and North Africa. It has production capacity of 100 000 tonnes/year and exports to more than 70 countries. Cristal intends to continue operating the assets it will acquire from Lyondell. “The acquisition of Millennium Inorganic Chemicals is an exciting component of our continued growth story,” says Cristal chairman and CEO Dr Talal Al-Shair. Lyondell acquired the inorganic chemicals business in its 2004 purchase of Millennium Chemicals Inc [ADPO, May 2004]. The agreed sale will not impact other Millennium subsidiaries. “This transaction would allow us to accelerate our debt repayment and focus our resources on capturing the synergies between our refinery and our chemicals business to achieve the great-
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