Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG), Malaysia´s leading integrated chemicals provider and part of Petronas Group, has completed the acquisition of Perstorp, the company has announced. In May this year, PCG signed a Securities Purchase Agreement with Financière Forêt S.à.r.l, a company under PAI Partners, a European private equity firm, to acquire the entire equity interest in Perstorp, a leading sustainability-driven global specialty chemicals company based in Sweden. With the completion of the acquisition, on 11 October, Perstorp is now PCG’s wholly-owned subsidiary - and will form a stronger business together, according to Perstorp’s President and CEO Jan Secher.
For PCG, the purchase is a strategic one, ‘part of our stepping-out strategy, creating a new platform for our growth in the specialty chemicals industry’ said PCG Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Ir. Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof.
Post-acquisition, PCG development plans include the expansion of Perstorp´s global presence by strengthening its position in the Asia Pacific markets through PCG’s industrial know-how and tapping into its substantial customer base. It will also work to ensure the timely completion of Perstorp’s growth projects in a safe and cost-effective manner. Perstorp has several projects lined up in the near future, including the launch of Project Air, which aims to reduce carbon emissions through the production of sustainable methanol. Recently, The European Union Innovation Fund selected Project Air, as one of the 17 large-scale green tech projects, which together will be granted more than EUR 1.8 billion. Project Air is a game changer for the chemical industry, moving from fossil raw materials to recycled and bio-based feedstock, thereby enabling sustainable chemical products to a large variety of industries and end products. At full capacity, it will reduce global CO2 emissions with close to 500,000 metric tons per year from today’s levels, corresponding to one percent of current emissions in Sweden.
In addition, PCG will further support Perstorp’s progress towards becoming Finite Materials Neutral; an effort launched the company to ensure that all energy, raw material and other resources used in, or flows through, the business are part of closed systems, so that no resources are used at a rate greater than nature can replenish.
“We are ready to advance further in our sustainability agenda. Perstorp’s Finite Material Neutral initiatives will serve as a catalyst for PCG’s projects towards our aspiration of Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050,” said Mohd Yusri.