The Solvay group (Rue du Prince Albert 33, B-1050 Brussels) has acquired from Ergom Materie Plastiche SpA (Turin/Italy) 50% of its shares in the Safiplast Company, specialised in the production of plastic fuel tanks for the automotive industry. The Italian company Ergom, which is the Italien leader in automobile parts, had taken over Safiplast. three months ago from the Enichem group. The agreement is aimed at consolidating Solvay's and Ergoms's position on the market of plastic automobile parts, especially regarding the Fiat group.

Safiplast has two plants, one at Somaglia Lodigiana (Milan) and the other at Pisticci (Matera); it employs 120 people and annual sales are in the range of Lit 50bn (DM 49m). The Solvay group is present in Italy through various companies and 11 industrial sites. With four million units the group is a major world producer of PE-HD fuel tanks and an important producer of other plastic components for the automotive industry, such as panels, interior mouldings and manifolds.