Arkema strikes €1.2bn plastics deal with Trinseo
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Monday 14 Dec 2020
(Sharecast News) - France's Arkema is to offload its PMMA business to plastics specialist Trinseo in a €1.2bn deal, it was announced on Monday.
Arkema's PMMA business employs around 860 people across seven production sites in Europe and the US. Annual sales for 2020 are estimated to be €510m, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €122m, which Arkema called a "solid performance" during a global pandemic. PMMA, also known as acrylic, is a widely-used, tough plastic material.
The sale of the unit to US firm Trinseo is part of a wider-strategy under which Arkema aims to position itself as a pure play speciality materials firm by 2024. It has already announced the sale of its functional polyolefins business to Korea's SK.
The enterprise value of the deal is €1.14bn.
Thierry Le Henaff, Arkema chief executive, said: "This proposed divestment...will allow Arkema to continue to significantly reduce the share of its intermediates segment and to consolidate its foothold in speciality materials with technological content."
Frank Bozich, Trinseo chief executive, said: "Arkema's PMMA business has consistently delivered attractive margins with products serving many of Trinseo's end markets. We believe this is an excellent first step in our portfolio transformation, that is expect to ultimately include the separation of some of our commodity business."
The sale, which is subject to regulatory approval as well as employee consultation, is expected to close mid-2021.
As at noon GMT, shares in Arkema were ahead 1%.
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