LyondellBasell has accepted an offer for its wholly-owned Argentine subsidiary, Petroken, from YPF and Grupo Inversor Petroquimica (GIP). Argentina’s state-owned energy company YPF and Spain’s GIP will each hold 50% of Petroken which is one of the country’s leading PP producers with an 180,000 t/y plant at Ensenada, adjacent to YPF’s La Plata complex.

The transaction is valued at $145 million on a debt- and cash-free basis. LyondellBasell expects proceeds of $162 million based on working capital estimates on June 30, 2015. The sale is expected to close in late 2015 following approval from Brazil’s antitrust authority CADE.

Meanwhile, YPF and GIP are acquiring equal shares of a 92% stake in Petroquimica Cuyo, another PP producer which operates a 130,000 t/y plant at Lujan de Cuyo, in western Argentina, next to YPF’s refinery complex.

YPF said it will pay $122 million in total for its stakes in the two PP companies.

“This acquisition is in line with our strategy to continue building an integrated business. The petrochemical sector has enormous potential in Argentina and is part of YPF’s growth strategy in a sector of large regional competition,” said Miguel Galuccio, YPF’s president and CEO.

The acquisitions mark the return of YPF to the PP market after its withdrawal in 2004-2005.