Ineos takes full control of Styrolution

Chemicals conglomerate Ineos is exercising its option to take full control of Styrolution, its 50:50 styrenics joint venture with BASF. Ineos will pay €1.1 billion (£878 million) for BASF’s share in the business.

When the two companies set up Styrolution in 2011, it was always the intention that Ineos would eventually take over the whole operation and BASF would bow out of styrenics, as part of a strategy of realigning BASF’s product portfolio towards less cyclical products. While Styrolution will be wholly controlled by Ineos, it will retain its current operations within BASF’s plants in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Antwerp in the Netherlands, which gain competitive advantages by being integrated into BASF’s ‘Verbund’ system of operations.