Petronas to buy Perstorp Group

Malaysian petrochemicals giant Petronas Chemical Group (PCG) has agreed to acquire Perstorp from its private equity owner, Financière Forêt. The €1.54 billion cash acquisition gives Perstorp an enterprise value of €2.3 billion. It should close in 2H 2022, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Malmö-based Perstorp describes itself as a niche speciality chemicals player that focuses on resins and coatings, engineered fluids and animal nutrition. It is the world market leader for trimethylolpropane and pentaerythritol and is particularly known for its proprietary oxo and polyol chemistries.

The company has seven manufacturing sites in Europe, US and China, with an eight due ready in India in 2023, plus three R&D centres. In all, it has about 1,500 employees and over 2,600 customers. In 2021, it had sales of €1.3 billion in 2021, EBITDA of €248 million and an EBITDA margin of 18.6%.

“Perstorp is an outstanding strategic fit for PCG and enables us to participate in attractive end markets such as paints and coatings, construction, plastic additives, personal care, food, feed and nutrition, paints and coatings that share a robust growth outlook,” said PCG managing director and CEO Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof.

Selective diversification into derivatives and speciality chemicals is already a core part of PCG’s strategy. It had previously, in 2019, acquired BRB Group in 2019, a producer of silicones, lube oil additives and chemicals, launching itself into various new areas.

For Perstorp, president and CEO Jan Secher said: “By tapping into PCG’s strength and market leading position in the Asia-Pacific region, we are confident that Perstorp can continue to develop into its next phase of growth. Being part of PCG means Perstorp gets the scale to increase the pace of innovation and accelerate our sustainable transformation, which is at the forefront of the chemical industry.”