Westlake Closes Purchase of PVC Maker Vinnolit
US-based Westlake Chemical has completed its acquisition of German PVC producer Vinnolit from private equity investor Advent International, making it by its own calculation world's sixth largest player.
The company paid €490 million for the assets, which include six production facilities, all but five located in Germany. A sole site is in the UK.
The deal announced in late May hands Westlake additional PVC polymerization capacity of 780,000 t/y, including specialty paste, thermoplastic specialties and suspension grades, along with 665,000 t/y of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and 475,000 t/y of membrane grade caustic soda.
Vinnolit, which posted sales of €917 million in 2013, claims to be the world's leading producer of specialty PVC. With production facilities in the US and China, Westlake has PVC capacity close to 1m t/y.
Westlake said it will continue to operate the businesses under the Vinnolit name, and the acquired company's headquarters will remain at Ismaning, Germany, near Munich. The PVC producer currently employs around 1,400 staff.
Albert Chao, president and CEO of Westlake, said the acquisition allows his company "the chance to bring new specialty PVC products to the market, expand our technological and product development capacity and grow our global presence with a footprint in Europe and surrounding markets."
