Merger completed – LyondellBasell Era begins

[Charles RandallParticipant]

LyondellBasell
Houston Chronicle – Dec 20 10:45 PM
Dutch chemical and plastics maker Basell completed its acquisition of Houston’s Lyondell Chemical Co. on Thursday, but the task of joining the two industry giants has only just begun, the top officer of the combined company said.   <See full article at Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5395954.html >
 
……….. In July, Basell said it would buy Lyondell’s outstanding common shares for $48 each in an all-cash transaction that, with debt assumed by Basell, was valued at about $20 billion. Last month, Lyondell shareholders voted to approve the deal, and Thursday the transaction closed before year-end as scheduled.
Basell, owned by billionaire industrialist Leonard Blavatnik’s privately held Access Industries, is the world’s largest producer of polypropylene and Europe’s largest producer of polyethylene, both key ingredients in plastics. Blavatnik in 2005 bought Basell, which had been formed in 2000 from units formerly owned by Royal Dutch Shell Group and BASF.

Before the merger, Lyondell was the fourth-largest U.S. chemical maker. It manufactures the propylene that Basell needs to make its biggest product, polypropylene resin. It also owns a large oil refinery in Houston, which it acquired last year after buying out partner Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s 41 percent stake in the plant.
The refining business will help Basell offset down cycles in its chemical business, said Andrew Brady and Wen Li, industry analysts with New York research firm CreditSights. Their report this summer also said that Lyondell’s other assets give Basell a bigger foothold in North America, where its presence had been small.
“In short, Lyondell has attractive assets that will make the Basell/Lyondell combo a successful relationship,” the report said.
 
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