Arkema recently announced the proposed divestment of its polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) business to Trinseo for an enterprise value of €1.1 billion (approximately $1.3 billion). According to Arkema, this project is a new step in the group’s transformation and is fully in line with its goal to become a pure Specialty Materials player by 2024.

Arkema reports that the project offers great long-term development opportunities for the PMMA business. Arkema’s PMMA activity is an integrated business, from the production of methyl methacrylate to polymethyl methacrylate, marketed under the Plexiglas^® brand on the American continent and Altuglas^® in the rest of the world. The business under divestment employs some 860 people and operates seven production sites (four in Europe and three in North America). Sales in 2020 are estimated to be around €510 million (~ $619 million).

Trinseo, a global materials solutions provider and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, generated sales of $3.8 billion in 2019 and operates 17 production sites worldwide with a workforce of 2,700 people. Arkema’s PMMA activity will reportedly complement Trinseo’s range of performance plastics (ABS, PC, etc.) and strengthen its positions in the automotive, construction, and lighting markets.

With this proposed divestment, which comes after the sale of the functional polyolefins business to SK last June, the share of Specialty Materials sales within Arkema increases from 79% to 87% based on the 2019 proforma figures. The group reports that it is thus taking another step in its transformation, with the ambition of becoming a pure Specialty Materials player centered only around Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials, and Coating Solutions by 2024.

“This proposed divestment is fully in line with the Group’s strategy presented at our Capital Markets Day last April,” said Thierry Le Hénaff, chairman and CEO of Arkema. “It will allow Arkema to continue to significantly reduce the share of its Intermediates segment and to consolidate its foothold in specialty materials with high technological content. Trinseo is a high-quality company which will be able to welcome in the best possible way PMMA’s management and highly professional teams, support its customers and partners over the long term, and capture the many growth opportunities for this sustainable and high performance material.”

The proposed disposal is subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities and to an information and consultation process involving Arkema’s employee representative bodies. The deal is expected to be finalized in mid-2021. For more information, visit www.arkema.com and www.trinseo.com.