Page 21 - Plastics News July 2017

COMPANY NEWS

PolyOne to sell DSS business to Qatar Petroleum completes

Arsenal Capital Partner integration of Qatar Vinyl

olyOne Corporation, a premier Company into Qapco
Pglobal provider of specialized
polymer materials, services and atar Petroleum (QP) has successfully completed the
solutions, has entered into a Qintegration of Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC) into Qatar
definitive agreement whereby Petrochemical Company (Qapco), six months before
the company will sell its Designed the deadline of this year end. The unification of QVC, a
Structures and Solutions (DSS) subsidiary of Mesaieed Petrochemical Company (MPHC),
business, which includes sheet, into Qapco, a subsidiary of Industries Qatar (IQ) that
rollstock and packaging assets, already operates Qatofin, has been done through the
to Arsenal Capital Partners for integration of all operations under a single operating
US$115 mln. "The decision to divest DSS comes after company, Qapco. Both IQ and MPHC are listed on the
evaluating several strategic options for the business Qatar Stock Exchange. As of July 1, the resulting new
and concluding this is the best course of action for our single operating organisation, Qapco, will fully operate
customers, associates and shareholders," said Robert M. the facilities of all three companies. This integration
Patterson, chairman, president and chief executive officer, will bring no change to the respective shareholdings of
PolyOne Corporation. "I'm pleased that we have come Qapco, Qatofin and QVC, whose brands will remain fully
to agreement with Arsenal who is very well positioned in place, QP said. Qapco – which is 80% owned by IQ
to complete the transformation work we have begun and 20% by France’s Total Petrochemicals – is engaged
and serve DSS customers going forward." Mr. Patterson in the production and sale of ethylene, polyethylene,
continued, "Looking back at the Spartech acquisition hexane and other petrochemical products; whereas
completed in 2013, there were a number of positive, QVC – which is jointly controlled by QP, MPHC and
value-creating elements of the deal. These include the Qapco – is into sale of petrochemical products as caustic
color concentrate and formulation assets that have
seamlessly integrated into the other segments of PolyOne,
as well as the beginnings of our IQ Design services which
are now broadly used across the entire company. We intend
to leverage these assets going forward, as well as seek
out new investments that expand our material science,
polymer formulation and world-class service capabilities.
This is what we do best, and I expect PolyOne's now
streamlined structure will further improve our focus and
accelerate our growth as we pursue our 2020 Platinum
Vision," Mr. Patterson added. The sale of DSS is subject
to satisfaction of regulatory requirements and other
customary closing conditions, which the company expects
to be completed in Q3-2017. Proceeds from the sale will
be used to pay down short term borrowings and fund
ongoing growth initiatives. In accordance with US GAAP,
the DSS business will be classified as "held for sale" and
be reported as discontinued operations. Accordingly, the soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer.
company will be required to record the assets related to "This successful integration is another testament to our
the DSS business at fair value, less an amount of estimated commitment to increasing the efficiency, effectiveness,
sale costs. The company anticipates this will result in an and competitiveness of all our operations," QP president
after-tax charge of US$220 million in the second quarter. and chief executive Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said.

21 July 2017 | Plastics News