Shell has completed the $820m sale of its 50% stake at Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical joint venture SADAF to the country’s chemicals major SABIC, the Anglo-Dutch energy major said on Wednesday.
The deal was announced in January as part of Shell’s $30bn divestment programme in order to reduce its debt obligations.
Despite the SADAF divestment in a growing petrochemical producing region like the Middle East, the company said at the time of the announcement chemicals would remain an “engine growth” within its portfolio.
Meanwhile, chemical analysts framed the divestment within Saudi Arabia’s drive to diversify its economy from purely extraction and production of crude oil into more downstream sectors, as part of its Saudi 2030 modernisation programme.
By Jonathan Lopez
Source: ICIS News
Private equity investor Cinven is acquiring MBCC Group’s admixture business from Swiss construction chemicals major Sika on the rebound. Earlier, the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had turned thumbs down on plans to sell the business to Ineos, citing antitrust concerns.
Air Liquide S.A. (Paris) announced the construction of an industrial scale ammonia (NH3) cracking pilot plant in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. When transformed into ammonia, hydrogen can be easily transported over long distances.
Huhtamaki receives a gold medal from EcoVadis on its sustainability performance – for the third year running. Its score places Huhtamaki in the top 4% of over 100,000 rated companies across the globe. EcoVadis is the world’s largest and most trusted business sustainability index.
