By Malini Hariharan
Confirmation has come in from the Siam Cement Group (SCG) that it is in the race to acquire stakes in two Indonesian companies – Chandra Asri and Sulfindo Adiusaha.
“We are interested in both firms in Indonesia as petrochemicals are SCG’s core business. But we cannot disclose anything at the moment because the deals are quite big,” said SCG’s ceo.
As mentioned by the blog last week, Singapore’s Temasek Holding is interested in divesting its 22.9% share in Chandra Asri for $400m. Chlor-alkali and vinyl’s producer Sulfindo owners, the Victoria Group, are said to be looking for $700m for the whole company.
SCG’s interest in the chemical assets follows its acquisition of an Indonesian ceramics producer and building materials distributor earlier this year. SCG had said at that time that it would utilise cash reserves of $2.5bn for strategic acquisitions in the Asean region.
The Sulfindo asset would significantly expand SCG’s share of the Indonesian PVC market which it currently serves from a 120,000 tonnes/year plant operated by subsidiary TPC Indo Plastic & Chemical.
Others interested in Chandra Asri, Indonesia’s sole cracker operator, are Thailand’s PTT Chem and South Korea’s Honam Petrochemical. And Hanwha Chemical is said to be interested in Sulfindo.