Saudi Arabian petrochemicals giant Sabic (Riyadh; www.sabic.com) has completed its planned acquisition of a 24.99% stake in Swiss speciality chemicals producer Clariant (Muttenz / Switzerland; www.clariant.com) following all regulatory approvals. The deal announced in January 2018 saw the Saudi group buying the stake held by US activist investors White Tale and 40 North – see Plasteurope.com of 25.01.2018.

Sabic is now the Swiss chemical group’s largest shareholder, ahead of the former shareholders of Süd-Chemie, which was acquired by Clariant in 2011 – see Plasteurope.com of 28.04.2011. Presenting H1 financial data in July 2018, CEO Hariolf Kottmann said the Sabic purchase – for which financial terms were not disclosed – was taking longer than expected due to anti-trust delays but was not in any danger.

"With Sabic receiving all the regulatory approvals and the transaction set to be completed, we look forward to further developing the strategic relationship between both companies in order to generate value for all stakeholders,” said Kottmann. The CEO repeated earlier remarks about scope for future collaboration of the two chemical producers, saying that “any outcome of these discussions will be presented in due course.”

In line with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030”, a plan to diversify the country’s economy away from oil, the kingdom’s companies continue casting a keen eye at chemical assets in the West. Saudi Aramco (Dhahran; www.saudiaramco.com), for example, in May 2018 agreed to take over the 50% stake owned by joint venture partner Lanxess (Cologne / Germany; www.lanxess.com) in synthetic rubber producer Arlanxeo (Maastricht / The Netherlands; www.arlanxeo.com). Sabic gained its engineering plastics portfolio in the 2007 takeover of GE Plastics – see Plasteurope.com of 22.05.2007.