Coatings World staff12.14.20
Arkema’s PMMA activity is an integrated business, from production of methyl methacrylate to polymethyl methacrylate, marketed under the brands Plexiglas on the American continent and Altuglas in the rest of the world.
This activity benefits from leading commercial positions with products primarily dedicated to the automotive, construction, signs & displays, and sanitary ware markets.
The business under divestment is very competitive, employs some 860 people and operates 7 production sites (4 in Europe and 3 in North America).
Sales in 2020 are estimated at around €510 million for an EBITDA of around €122 million.
In 2019, EBITDA was close to its historic high, at €160 million.
Trinseo, a global materials solutions provider and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, generated sales of $3.8 billion in 2019, and operates 17 production sites worldwide, with a workforce of 2,700 people.
Arkema’s PMMA activity will complement Trinseo’s range of performance plastics (ABS, PC, etc.), and strengthen its positions in the automotive, construction and lighting markets.
The offer received is based on an enterprise value of €1,137 million, and the capital gains tax is expected at around 15% of this amount.
With this proposed divestment, which comes after the sale of the functional polyolefins business to Korean group SK last June, the share of Specialty Materials sales within Arkema increases from 79% to 87% based on the 2019 proforma figures.
The Group thus takes another major step in its transformation, with the ambition of becoming a pure Specialty Materials player by 2024, centered only around Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions.
"This proposed divestment is fully in line with the Group's strategy presented at our Capital Markets Day last April. It will allow Arkema to continue to significantly reduce the share of its Intermediates segment and to consolidate its foothold in specialty materials with high technological content," said Thierry Le Hénaff, Arkema chairman and CEO.
"Trinseo is a high-quality company that will be able to welcome in the best possible way PMMA’s management and highly professional teams, support its customers and partners over the long term and capture the many growth opportunities for this sustainable and high-performance material."
The deal is expected to be finalized mid-2021.
