Selenius Picks Up Italian La Seda Subsidiary

Portuguese PET producer Selenius has acquired Artenius Italia, one of the subsidiaries of insolvent Spanish PET producer La Seda de Barcelona. The buy was carried out through Selenius parent company, Control PET, which belongs to Portuguese private equity group Imatosgil Investimentos.

According to Italian media reports, Control PET paid €1 million for the business - the last of the La Seda PET production assets to find a buyer - which currently employs more than 100 people. Some 75 workers will lose their jobs, with Selenius taking on the remaining 30.

Reports from Spain, meanwhile, say that investors close to Cristian Lay, the Spanish entrepreneur whose group acquired the La Seda plants at El Prat de

Llobregat and Tarragona, Spain, earlier this year for an estimated €16.6 million, will invest €10 million in the facilities. Lay is said to have been renegotiating contracts with ex-La Seda suppliers about reducing costs by 15%.

Spanish media also report that a sale of PET converter APPE, also part of La Seda's erstwhile empire, may be imminent. The Spanish PET group declared bankruptcy in 2013.