Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group and ChemChina will merge to create a new company, and Sinochem Chairman Ning Gaoning will become the chairman of ChemChina, financial publication Caixin reported late on Saturday.
Reuters has reported that the two companies were in merger talks to create the world’s biggest industrial chemicals firm worth around $120 billion, to be led by the head of Sinochem.
Sinochem Chairman Ning will serve as Chairman and Party Secretary of ChemChina, while ChemChina’s long-serving Chairman Ren Jianxin retires, Caixin reported, citing sources close to the companies.
The personnel change was announced on Saturday at ChemChina’s office by officials from State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission and the Ministry of Organization, the report said.
“However, there is no definite plan for how to form a new company,” the publication said.
A Sinochem spokesman declined to comment on the personnel changes, or the possible merger of the companies.
A ChemChina media official did not respond to a request for comment.
Talks to create a Chinese chemicals powerhouse were first reported in late 2016, but were dismissed by both companies as rumor.
Reuters reported that the two companies accelerated negotiations around May last year, after regulators cleared ChemChina’s $43 billion acquisition of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta.
Beijing sees a Sinochem and ChemChina deal as a blueprint for streamlining and consolidating its sprawling, debt-heavy state-owned enterprises, leaving fewer, but more powerful, national champions.
By Kevin Yao and Chen Aizhu
Source: Reuters
The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC), DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE: DD) and Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) (the “companies”) today announced they have reached an agreement in principle to comprehensively resolve all PFAS-related drinking water claims of a defined class of public water systems that serve the vast majority of the United States population.
The quest to develop hydrogen as a clean energy source that could curb our dependence on fossil fuels may lead to an unexpected place — coal. A team of Penn State scientists found that coal may represent a potential way to store hydrogen gas, much like batteries store energy for future use, addressing a major hurdle in developing a clean energy supply chain.
WE Soda (London), a major producer of soda ash, said it intends to launch an IPO and apply to list its shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The company, wholly owned by industrial conglomerate the Ciner Group (Istanbul, Turkey), said it is the world’s largest producer of natural soda ash.
