09.21.11
Thailand's Indorama Ventures Pcl will buy Wellman International's recycling business in Europe from Aurelius AG as part of an expansion drive to meet demand for the recycling of consumer products.
The acquisition, which includes Wellman's MJR Recycling BV, is expected to be completed this year and will provide both access to recycling technology and potential technology transfer to its Asian assets, it said in a statement.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wellman is Europe's largest recycler of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and a maker of polyester staple fiber and recycled PET products. It has three production facilities in Europe with output of over 153,000 tons a year.
Its Ireland plant is capable of converting waste polyester into 100% recyled fiber, which can be further processed to be used in several premium products, it said.
Indorama, valued at $5.3 billion, has said it planned to spend $3.8 billion to double its capacity to 10 million tons by 2014. It is southeast Asia's third-largest petrochemical firm by market value after Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals Group and Thailand's PTT Chemical Pcl.