Honam Petrochemical To Acquire Malaysia's Titan Chemicals Corp

SEOUL, July 16 (Bernama) -- South Korea's Honam Petrochemical Corp said Friday it will buy a 100 percent stake in Titan Chemicals Corp Bhd, a Malaysian petrochemical company, for 1.5 trillion won (US$1.2 billion), Yonhap News Agency reported. According to the news agency the South Korean company said it will acquire a 73 percent stake from the Malaysian company's two major shareholders, Chao Group and Malaysian sovereign fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad, and plans to purchase the remainder via a takeover bid. "We can raise the money by ourselves as we have 1.3 trillion won in cash and our operating profit has been on the rise," a company official said. "To keep our cash flow strong, we may consider issuing bonds." The company said Titan Chemicals posted US$1.64 billion in sales last year, and predicted the takeover will help it record 12 trillion won in consolidated sales this year, which include sales from overseas units. Honam Pertrochemical, a unit of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group, said it will have annual production capacities of 2.47 million tonnes of ethylene, 1.8 million tonnes of polyethylene and 1.38 million tonness of polypropylene by acquiring the Malaysian petrochemical firm. -- BERNAMA