BASF, Alpek agree to swap EPS, polyurethane business in Americas

Alpek and BASF have signed agreements concerning the EPS (expandable polystyrene) and PU (polyurethane) business activities of their Polioles joint venture in Mexico, and BASF’s EPS business in North and South America, excluding BASF’s Neopor (grey EPS) business.

Alpek will acquire all of Polioles’ EPS business activities, including its EPS production site in Altamira, Mexico. In parallel, BASF will acquire Polioles’ PU business activities, including selected assets in its Lerma facility as well as all marketing and selling rights for PU systems, isocyanates and polyols. 

Upon completion of the transaction, Polioles will continue operations as an Alpek-BASF joint venture with a product portfolio comprised of industrial and specialty chemicals.

Under the agreements, Alpek will also acquire BASF’s EPS business activities in North and South America, including:

The combined capacity of all EPS production facilities that Alpek will acquire is approximately 230,000 tpy. This figure includes Polioles’ 165,000 tpy production plant in Altamira, Mexico. Approximately 440 employees work in the businesses that are subject to the agreements -- 380 employees in the EPS businesses and 60 employees in the PU business. The majority of these employees will keep their position under the new ownerships.

BASF says it will continue to sell Neopor to its customers in the US, Canada and South America. In Mexico, Alpek will sell Neopor for BASF based on a distribution agreement.

All agreements are subject to approval by the appropriate authorities. Closing of the transaction is expected by early 2015. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“This transaction represents an attractive opportunity for Alpek to build upon its EPS operations in Mexico, expand its EPS footprint across the Americas, and consolidate its ‘plastics & chemicals’ product portfolio," said Jose de Jesus Valdez, Alpek’s CEO. "It also reaffirms Alpek’s commitment to the EPS value chain, where we will continue providing the highest standard of quality and service to all our customers.”

“The acquisition of the PU business significantly strengthens BASF Performance Materials’ industry-oriented customer solutions approach across North America and globally," said Raimar Jahn, president of BASF's performance materials business. "BASF will focus its EPS business on strategic markets in Europe and Asia as well as on Neopor, which is produced in Germany and Korea."