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Saudi SABIC Buys Huntsman UK for 700 Mln Dlrs | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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RIYADH (AFP) -Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC announced on Friday it has purchased a European subsidiary of US-based Huntsman Corporation for 700 million dollars.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation has acquired 100 percent of the shares of Huntsman Petrochemicals (UK) Ltd, which has been renamed SABIC UK Petrochemicals, SABIC said in a statement.

Following finalization of the deal, which was first announced three months ago, SABIC will complete the construction of a 400 kilotons per annum capacity polyethylene plant in Wilton, Teesside, in the northeast of England, the statement said.

The acquired business operates an ethylene-propylene cracker and aromatics facilities and their associated logistics at Wilton and North Tees, it said.

All 850 employees of the purchased company will transfer to SABIC.

SABIC is the largest public company in the Middle East, with a capitalization of more than 60 billion dollars, and one of the world’s 10 biggest petrochemicals manufacturers.

The Saudi government owns 70 percent of SABIC, with the remaining 30 percent held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Its profits increased in 2005 to a record 5.1 billion dollars, 35 percent up from 2004.

SABIC’s European arm operates two petrochemical plants in the Netherlands and Germany, and employs some 2,450 people.