LONDON (ICIS)–A consortium led by Alpek and Indorama Ventures has agreed to purchase M&G USA Corp’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Corpus Cristi, Texas, for a purchase price of $1.125bn, the Mexico- and Thailand-based companies said on Wednesday.
Expected to be the largest integrated PTA-PET plant in the world when construction work is completed, the plant is to be acquired by a newly-formed joint venture known as CC Polymers, including Alpek, Indorama, and partner Far Eastern Investment, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based polyester producer Far Eastern New Century Corporation.
A bankruptcy court auction sale decision for the plant had beenexpected this week, after construction delays landed M&G with $1.7bn in debt, with liquidity issues and insufficient feedstock sources forcing it to halt production at plants in Altamira, Mexico, and Apple Grove, US. Far Eastern was also the winner of the Apple Grove plant auction
Under the terms of this deal, each stakeholder will have the right to receive a third of the PET and PTA produced at the site, with capacity estimated at 1.1m tonnes/year and 1.3m tonnes/year respectively. A timeline for the expected completion of the plant will be communicated at a later date, the companies said.
The purchase agreement, entered into with M&G and the company’s debtors, includes the plant, certain intellectual property held by the Italy-headquartered producer, and a desalination and boiler plant, with the purchase price made up of cash and other capital contributions.
Alpek, Indorama and Far Eastern will procure raw materials for the site independently, and distribute finished product independently, the partners added.