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2nd September, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) will acquire BP’s 15 per cent and 60 per cent interests in Ethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd (EMSB) and Polyethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PEMSB) respectively for US$363 million cash (US$1 = RM3.14).
Petronas said under the agreement, the payment was inclusive of a balance sheet adjustment of US$13 million and the repayment of a shareholder loan of US$53 million.
“Both parties are expected to complete the transaction by year-end,” it said in a statement here yesterday.
Petronas’ executive vice president of downstream business, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, said the purchase would enable Petronas to strengthen its presence in the olefins and polyolefins businesses in the region.
Currently, EMSB owns an ethylene plant and PEMSB, a polyethylene plant, located within the Petronas Petroleum Industry Complex in Kertih, Terengganu.
Both plants are operated by Petronas.
EMSB’s olefin cracker currently produced about 400,000 tonnes per annum of ethylene, a basic petrochemical feedstock. PEMSB’s polyethylene plant produced some 300,000 tonnes per annum of polyethylene, used primarily for packaging and film manufacture.
EMSB is currently owned by Petronas (72.5 per cent), BP (15 per cent) and Idemitsu of Japan (12.5 per cent). PEMSB is owned by BP (60 per cent) and Petronas (40 per cent).
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