PolyOne to sell base resin assets to Mexichem for $250 million

Chemical company PolyOne Corporation is selling its base resin assets to Mexican plastic pipe and chemical maker Mexichem SAB de CV for US$250 million in cash as it shifts its focus to specialty chemicals.

The resin assets, which are a part of PolyOne’s performance products and solutions business, accounted for about 22 per cent of the company’s 2012 revenue of $679.4 million, PolyOne said in a news release.

Avon Lake, Ohio-based PolyOne has been looking to transform itself into a specialty chemical business. The company bought plastic products maker Spartech Corporation in a US$246 million deal in October.

The company has also sold off other commodity chemical businesses including its stake in resin supplier Oxy Vinyls in 2007 and in chlor alkali manufacturer SunBelt in 2011.

“Since we began our specialty transformation, we have divested commodity equity investments including Oxy Vinyls and SunBelt and reinvested the proceeds to accelerate the growth of our specialty offerings,” said Stephen Newlin, chairman, president and CEO of PolyOne, in a statement. “As our only remaining business involved in the direct manufacture of base resins, we view the sale of our resin production assets as a natural and next step in the evolution of our portfolio.”