Ineos buys BASF out of plastics joint venture for $1.5 billion

Switzerland-based petrochemical firm Ineos said on Monday it had bought out BASF, the world's biggest chemicals group, from their joint venture Styrolution, which produces the styrene used to make plastics, for about $1.5 billion. "Ineos will acquire BASF's 50 percent share in Styrolution," the company said in a statement.
It said shareholders had agreed to an option of purchasing the remaining shares in Styrolution in 2011, when the two partners created the venture combining their global styrenics businesses. The transaction, which still needs a green light from a variety of antitrust authorities, will cost Ineos 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion), the company said.
"Styrolution has fulfilled its promise as a globally competitive business that competes effectively with large-scale producers from Asia and the Middle East," said Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of INEOS Capital. "We are pleased to bring Styrolution fully into the Ineos family," he added.