“Dow has informed employees in Germany that it is exploring opportunities related to certain infrastructure assets and services at its Stade, Schkopau and Böhlen sites, but no final decision has been made,” a company spokesman told Reuters.

The US-headquartered group said it would continue to produce plastics and chemicals at the sites, paying usage fees to a new owner. Dow produces olefins and aromatics at Böhlen, including about 565,000 t/y of ethylene, as well as PE at Schkopau, and chemicals including propylene glycol, MDI and chlor-alkali at Stade.

The company is reported to have sent out information packages to prospective bidders that include private equity and asset management groups such as KKR, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, First Sentier and DIF Capital Partners.

The proposed divestment is part of the US chemical group’s review of its ownership of non-producing assets. Last July, Dow agreed to sell its rail infrastructure assets at six sites across North America to Kansas-based transportation company Watco. The assets were located at Dow’s sites in Plaquemine and St. Charles, Louisiana; Freeport and Seadrift, Texas; and Fort Saskatchewan and Prentiss in Alberta, Canada.

In a similar deal in 2019, German companies Bayer and Lanxess sold their jointly owned chemical site operator Currenta to Macquarie for €3.5 billion. Currenta manages and operates infrastructure, energy supply and other essential services at the Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen chemical parks.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist