Extrusion International 5-2017

18 Extrusion International 5/2017 INDUSTRY NEWS BASF to acquire Solvay’s global polyamide business BASF and Solvay have signed an agreement related to the sale of Solvay’s integrated polyamide business to BASF. The purchase price on a cash and debt-free basis would be €1.6 billion. According to applicable laws, the intended transaction is subject to consultations with the relevant so- cial bodies of Solvay, following which both companies will enter a binding purchase agreement. Solvay and BASF aim to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2018, after customary regulatory approvals have been obtained and the formal consent of a joint venture partner has been re- ceived. The partner has already committed to grant its con- sent subject to the delivery of definitive documents with BASF. The acquisition would complement BASF’s engineering plastics portfolio and expand the company’s position as a solution provider for the transportation, construction, in- dustrial applications and consumer industries. Regionally, the transaction would enhance access to key growth mar- kets in Asia and South America. At the same time, the pur- chase would strengthen BASF’s polyamide 6.6 value chain through increased polymerization capacities and the back- ward integration into the key raw material ADN (adipodi- nitrile). For the full year 2016, net sales of the business to be pur- chased from Solvay amounted to €1,315 million and EBIT- DA to around €200 million. It has approximately 2,400 em- ployees globally, thereof approximately 1,300 in France. Worldwide, it operates 12 production sites, 4 R&D locations and 10 technical support centers. The business would be in- tegrated into BASF’s Performance Materials and Monomers divisions. www.basf.com SIPA and EREMA hold Open House A very special Open House was held from 4 to 6 Septem- ber at the SIPA headquarters in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, where the unique direct processing of washed PET flakes to make food contact grade preforms was demonstrated live on the world’s first PET Inline Preform system. The system will be in industrial operation next year. Numerous representatives from the beverage industry and well-known brands attended the three-day Open House held by SIPA and EREMA and saw a compelling live produc- tion performance of the world’s first PET Inline Preform system. SIPA, the leading manufacturer of PET packaging solutions from Italy, and EREMA, specialists in the manu- facturing of plastic recycling systems, have together devel- oped a unique, flexible, direct processing solution to make food contact compliant inline preforms from PET flakes in a single step. The pivotal product from EREMA in the collabo- ration is VACUREMA technology, which is combined with SIPA’s XTREME preform production system. The pioneering Open House of SIPA und EREMA (from left): Enrico Gribaudo, General Manager of SIPA, Anna Horecica Csiki, Product Manager PET Systems at SIPA, and Christoph Wöss, Business Development Manager at EREMA Group