UAE-based IPIC lists Bayer MaterialScience, other four major U.S. and European petrochemical companies for possible acquisitions; company expects to close a deal in Europe by Q1

Graziela Medina Shepnick

LOS ANGELES , November 18, 2009 (IndustryIntel) – Bayer MaterialScience is one of five major petrochemical companies in the U.S. and Europe that International Petroleum Investment Co. is negotiating to acquire, an IPIC executive recently said, ICIS news reported on Nov. 17.

IPIC, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, expects to close a deal to acquire a European company by first-quarter 2010, according to Khadem Al Qubaisi, the company’s managing director.

He would not reveal any of the other four companies being considered, saying that there are confidentiality agreements with most of them. A Bayer MaterialScience spokesperson would not confirm his company’s involvement, saying that the policy is generally not to comment on market rumors.

Al Qubaisi said the companies that IPIC is talking with are global but based in Europe and make petrochemicals as well as specialties.

The technical expertise of the acquired company will be used to develop petrochemical projects in Abu Dhabi, including future phases of the Chemaweyaat chemical city in Abu Dhabi’s new Mina Khalifa Industry Zone.

The first phase of Chemaweyaat includes a 1.4 million tonnes/year ethylene cracker that is slated to start up in 2014. Phases two and three depend on local and world economies and the market, Al Qubaisi said.

Earlier this year, IPIC acquired 100% of Canada’s Nova Chemicals Corp. It also holds a 48% stake in Spanish energy and chemical group Compañía Española de Petróleos SA (CEPSA), 64% of Austria-based polyolefins group Borealis AS and a 19% stake in Austrian oil and chemical group OMV AG, ICIS news reported.

The primary source of this article is ICIS news, London, England, on Nov. 17, 2009.

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