KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has acquired the entire shares of Union Carbide Corp in Optimal Group of Companies for US$660 million (RM2.31 billion).
Union Carbide is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.
In a joint statement with Dow here today, Petronas said it would fund the acquisition through internally generated funds.
The transaction, subject to customary conditions and approvals, is expected to be concluded by the third quarter this year.
Dow and Petronas have agreed to enter into a commercial supply agreement allowing the two companies to continue serving the current customer base with products manufactured by Optimal.
Dow will market Optimal’s basic and performance chemicals products to Dow’s existing customer base in Asia Pacific.
“Our purchase of Dow’s equity in Optimal would enable us to strengthen our presence in olefins and reinforce the growth of the Malaysian petrochemical industry,” said Petronas president and chief executive officer, Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican.
“We have had an excellent working relationship with Dow over the years in Optimal, and we expect that will continue, with Dow now becoming one of Optimal’s largest customers,” he added.
Established in July 1998, Optimal manufactures more than 70 products and serves key markets in the Asia Pacific region from its world-scale petrochemical facility located in Kerteh, Terengganu.
Products include ethylene and propylene feedstocks, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, butanol, various ethylene oxide derivatives, basic chemicals and specialty chemicals. – Bernama
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