Borealis (Vienna / Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) has completed the acquisition of the 50% stake held by Nova Chemicals (Calgary, Alberta / Canada; www.novachem.com) in the Novealis Holdings joint venture founded by the two companies in 2018. Plans for the share transfer were announced in January (see Plasteurope.com of 14.01.2020). Borealis CEO Alfred Stern said the buyout of the Canadian partner supports the Austrian olefins and polyolefins group’s global growth ambitions and will allow it to further increase its footprint in North America.

Shortly after its 2018 founding, Novealis formed Bayport Polymers (Houston, Texas / USA; www.baystar.com) as a 50:50 joint venture with Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA (www.totalpetrochemicalsrefiningusa.com), an affiliate of French energy and petrochemicals giant Total (Paris; www.total.com). The JV’s assets include at a 625,000 t/y polyethylene plant due onstream in 2021 using Borealis’ “Borstar” process as well as Total’s 1m t/y cracker at Port Arthur, Texas.