By Chester Tay


Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd. proposed to buy Sweden specialty chemical company Perstorp Holding AB in a bid to diversify existing businesses and capture new growth opportunities.

The acquisition is priced at 1.54 billion euros ($1.61 billion) in cash, based on an enterprise value of EUR2.3 billion, Petronas Chemicals said Tuesday.

The petrochemical group said it entered a conditional securities purchase agreement with Financière Forêt SARL, a company under PAI Partners, a European private-equity firm.

Petronas Chemicals Managing Director Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof said buying Perstorp allows the group to future-proof its business against a cyclical and volatile market.

"This acquisition will also provide us critical talent, know-how, technological platforms and proven customer channels to address the pressing needs of the market for more sustainable solutions," he said.

Perstorp is a niche specialty chemicals player that develops sustainable solutions with a focus on the resins and coatings, engineered fluids and animal nutrition markets.

The acquisition requires shareholders' approval via an extraordinary general meeting and antitrust clearances in certain jurisdictions, Petronas Chemicals said. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of this year, it said.

Piper Sandler is the lead financial adviser for the acquisition and Maybank Investment Bank is the principal adviser, Petronas Chemicals said.


Write to Chester Tay at chester.tay@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-17-22 0631ET