Celanese to sell its Polyplastics stake to Daicel

Global chemical and specialty material company Celanese Corp. is selling its 45 per cent equity investment in the Polyplastics joint venture to Daicel Corp. for US$1.575 billion. Following the completion of the transaction, Daicel will own 100 per cent of Polyplastics.

“Celanese has been investing in and rapidly growing our base business in Engineered Materials globally over the last 10 years,” said Lori Ryerkerk, Celanese chairman and CEO in a July 22 statement. “Among the advantages that set Celanese apart from our peers is our ability to leverage our unique business models and flexible strategy to deliver sustainable growth, especially in key markets served by our engineered materials business. We plan to use this opportunity to monetize a historically passive investment and allocate significant capital to higher growth businesses within Celanese.”

Polyplastics makes liquid crystal polymers, polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) and polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymer.

After the acquisition, Polyplastics plans to expand its LCP business in Europe and the Americas, invest in infrastructure in both markets, leverage the resources of the Daicel Group to develop new products, and diversify into other advanced engineering plastics. Included Daicel’s portfolio are high performance films, lens modules, low-density plastic foams, and long fiber-reinforced compounds.

Celanese expects to complete the transaction in the second half of this fiscal year.