Mexico’s Alpek buying PET sheet maker Octal for $620 million

In a move that boosts its PET business, Mexican petrochemical company Alpek S.A.B. de C.V. is buying PET sheet maker Octal Holding for US$620 million.

In a Feb. 1 news release, Alpek officials said the acquisition will close the gap in meeting its emissions-reduction targets, as Octal owns technology that eliminates several energy-intensive steps in the manufacture of PET sheet while lowering production costs.

“PET sheet represents a highly attractive opportunity for Alpek, serving the growing needs for 100% recyclable packaging,” Alpek said. “Growth rates through 2025 are also expected to be strong at 6.4% per year. [Octal] serves a long-standing customer base across the Americas, Middle East, and Europe, through a logistically advantaged position centered in Oman. The acquisition adds over one million tons of installed capacity, spread across four sites, to [our] existing footprint.”

Octal facilities include annual capacity of 400,000 metric tons of PET sheet and 576,000 tons of PET resin in the Salalah Free Zone of Oman, as well as recycling and packaging capacity in Cincinnati, Ohio and Saudi Arabia.

“This transaction is an ideal fit for Alpek,” said Alpeck CEO José de Jesús Valdez. “Through a single acquisition we’re able to access the profitable and growing PET sheet segment, acquire differentiated technology that provides a sustainable competitive advantage, significantly advance towards meeting our ESG goals, and serve our customers’ increased PET resin demand.”