Petronas Chemicals Group (PCG), part of Malaysia’s state-owned energy group Petronas, has acquired three companies that are participating in the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Johor. It has paid $3,000 to Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corp (PRPC), the subsidiary implementing RAPID, for the entire equity in PRPC Glycols, PRPC Polymers and PRPC Elastomers – known as the “Project Companies.”

These companies, which will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of PCG, are undertaking projects with a combined total capacity of around 2.7 million t/y. Investment costs will total roughly $3.9 billion. Work on RAPID has already started, and the first petrochemicals production is expected when the refinery is completed in 2019.

Datuk Sazali Hamzah, president and CEO of PCG, said: “With RAPID’s petrochemical projects, we will be able to strengthen our petrochemical base and concurrently diversify into selective derivatives, specialties and solutions. We look forward to broadening PCG’s products portfolio into key growth areas of differentiated chemicals and increasing the Group’s total production capacity to cater to the growing ASEAN market.”

PCG will assume assets and liabilities amounting to approximately $110 million. The company also noted that, based on current arrangements between PRPC and its existing partners, there may be potential dilution to PCG’s equity in the acquired companies.