In its first acquisition of 2019, Ineos Oxide has completed the purchase of Wilmar’s ethoxylation plant in Lavéra, France.

Graham Beesley, Ineos Oxide’s CEO, commented: “This acquisition comes at an opportune moment for Ineos’s Lavéra ethylene oxide (EO) activities following the recent decision to invest in the Lavéra site.”

The company said last September it planned to spend €200 million on upgrading its European EO plants to meet increased demand, of which €50 million was to be spent at Lavéra in southern France with €150 million going to expand production and storage at Zwijndrecht in Belgium. Ineos expects EO capacity at Lavéra to ultimately reach 270,000 t/y.

Nathalie Haeberli, business manager alkoxylation, added that Ineos Oxide now operates alkoxylation assets on three integrated sites. She said: “We look forward to adding this capacity to our network, that together with our upcoming expansion in Zwijndrecht, Antwerp, Belgium, increases our offering to the European market.”

The acquisition includes the site’s production infrastructure and employees, but Wilmar's commercial portfolio is excluded from the deal.

As part of the transaction, Ineos and Wilmar Europe Trading have entered into a toll manufacturing agreement, which guarantees Wilmar a long-term supply of surfactants from Ineos’s European network.

Wilmar said it now has access to five locations for ethoxylation in northwestern and southern Europe and will continue expanding its activities in European surfactants markets around its natural fatty alcohol plant which it owns and operates in Rozenburg, the Netherlands.