logo
LyondellBasell enters talks to sell key European assets to AEQUITA

LyondellBasell enters talks to sell key European assets to AEQUITA

Fibre2Fashion2 days ago

LyondellBasell (LYB) announced that it has entered into an agreement and exclusive negotiations with AEQUITA for the sale of select olefins & polyolefins assets and the associated business in Europe. The sites to be sold have been part of the previously announced European strategic assessment and are located in Berre (France), Münchsmünster (Germany), Carrington (UK), and Tarragona (Spain).
LyondellBasell has entered exclusive talks with AEQUITA to sell select European olefins and polyolefins assets in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain. The deal supports LYB's strategic shift toward circular and renewable solutions. AEQUITA plans to expand its industrial base. Closing is expected in the first half of 2026, pending consultations and approvals.
'This contemplated transaction is a significant step in LYB's transformation to Grow and Upgrade our Core. We are committed to operate our assets safely and reliably throughout this process and will continue to support our customers, employees and other key stakeholders,' said Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell chief executive officer. 'Europe remains a core market for LYB and one we will continue to participate in following this transaction with more of a focus on value creation through establishing profitable leadership in circular and renewable solutions.'
The assets and business to be acquired by AEQUITA include integrated and non-integrated sites within LYB's European olefins and polyolefins business, as well as supporting central functions based at the Company's Rotterdam headquarters and various locations. The sites together represent a scaled olefins and polyolefins platform strategically located in proximity to a longstanding customer base and with access and connectivity to key infrastructure.
'The acquisition of these assets from LYB marks another important step in expanding our industrial footprint,' said Christoph Himmel, Managing Partner at AEQUITA. 'Each site brings a strong operational foundation and a highly experienced, committed employee base. We are confident in our ability to accelerate their development under AEQUITA's ownership approach. We look forward to welcoming the teams into our Group and to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition and establish a strong platform for long-term success.'
The agreement entered into between LyondellBasell and AEQUITA is a put option deed under which AEQUITA has committed to enter into an agreed form purchase agreement if LyondellBasell exercises its put option, after conclusion of certain works council consultation processes.
Closing of the proposed transaction is currently expected in the first half of 2026, subject to the completion of the information and consultation processes with the relevant employee representative bodies in accordance with applicable laws, as well as regulatory and other customary closing conditions. Citi and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisors and Linklaters LLP acted as legal counsel to LyondellBasell. Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Nvidia teams up with Perplexity and Mistral AI: How will it impact Europe's AI infrastructure push?
Nvidia teams up with Perplexity and Mistral AI: How will it impact Europe's AI infrastructure push?

Mint

time39 minutes ago

  • Mint

Nvidia teams up with Perplexity and Mistral AI: How will it impact Europe's AI infrastructure push?

Nvidia has announced new collaborations with AI firms Perplexity and Mistral AI as part of a broad initiative to strengthen artificial intelligence infrastructure and language model development across Europe. The announcement was made during an AI conference in Paris, where the US-based chipmaker outlined its strategy to support regional AI growth with both hardware and software solutions. In partnership with search firm Perplexity, Nvidia will work with over a dozen AI companies in Europe and the Middle East to refine their technologies and help distribute them to local businesses. This effort will involve the development of reasoning models—AI systems capable of handling more complex tasks—in various European languages, where training data is often limited. Mistral AI, a French startup, is joining forces with Nvidia to launch a new service called Mistral Compute, which will run on 18,000 of Nvidia's Grace Blackwell chips. The service will be based in the company's data centre in Essonne, France, with plans to expand across the continent. The aim is to facilitate domestic AI computing capabilities and reduce dependence on overseas infrastructure. Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive, said that Europe urgently needs to scale up its AI infrastructure if it wants to stay competitive globally. The firm is supporting this push by partnering with cloud and telecom providers and enabling small-scale access to its AI accelerators—specialised chips used to train and deploy AI models. Kari Briski, Nvidia's vice president for generative AI software, said the company is producing synthetic data in low-resource European languages to help train more robust local models. "We're doing a lot of synthetic data generation and translating our reasoning datasets so they can be used in training," she said. Nvidia's collaboration includes firms in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Perplexity will support the deployment and accessibility of these models, ensuring they can be used by local enterprises for tasks such as content research and data analysis. The company's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, noted that Germany is already its second-largest market by revenue, underscoring the growing demand for regionally tailored AI services. As part of the broader rollout, Nvidia also confirmed that its AI Lepton service, which connects developers to essential compute infrastructure, will now include participation from AWS and Mistral. The company added that 'AI factories'—large-scale data centres for training and operating AI models—are being developed in over 20 European locations, several of which will be 'gigafactories' housing more than 100,000 chips. In the UK, companies such as Nebius Group and Nscale Global Holdings are also set to deploy thousands of Nvidia's AI semiconductors, while other countries, including Italy and Armenia, are preparing to upgrade their hardware systems. Despite Europe having over 1.5 million AI developers and nearly 10,000 businesses involved in Nvidia's Inception startup programme, the continent still lags behind the US in terms of infrastructure investment. Nvidia said it plans to triple the region's AI hardware capacity next year and increase total computing power tenfold. (With inputs from Bloomberg and Reuters)

Message for Trump? In China, European Central Bank prez warns against being a 'bully' in global commerce
Message for Trump? In China, European Central Bank prez warns against being a 'bully' in global commerce

First Post

timean hour ago

  • First Post

Message for Trump? In China, European Central Bank prez warns against being a 'bully' in global commerce

'Coercive trade policies are not a sustainable solution to today's trade tensions,' European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said without mentioning Trump's name read more Trump's tariff wars have been seen as a bullying tactic to get nations on the negotiating table with the US. Reuters/File Photo European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday (June 11) warned that coercive trade policies risk damaging the global economy and called for more cooperation among countries despite geopolitical differences. She said that being a bully on global commerce has no long-term advantages Speaking at the People's Bank of China in Beijing just hours after the United States and China announced a preliminary agreement aimed at easing trade tensions, Lagarde said protectionist measures fail to address the root causes of imbalances and could undermine long-term prosperity. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Coercive trade policies are not a sustainable solution to today's trade tensions,' she said. Although Lagarde did not mention US President Donald Trump by name, her remarks came as global markets continue to assess the implications of his tariff policies. Trade friction between Washington and Beijing has intensified during Trump's presidency, largely due to repeated rounds of tariffs. European officials have expressed concern that renewed US tariffs could target European goods in a second Trump term. 'To the extent that protectionism addresses imbalances, it is not by resolving their root causes, but by eroding the foundations of global prosperity,' Lagarde said. 'And with countries now deeply integrated through global supply chains — yet no longer as geopolitically aligned as in the past — this risk is greater than ever.' Lagarde, who served as France's trade minister earlier in her career and later led the International Monetary Fund, called on both surplus and deficit countries to 'take responsibility and play their part' to maintain global economic stability. 'If we are serious about preserving our prosperity, we must pursue cooperative solutions — even in the face of geopolitical differences,' she said. Her remarks also addressed the growing use of export controls in global trade. Talks between the US and China in London earlier this week highlighted the increasing role of strategic resources in trade disputes, including access to rare earth elements and semiconductors critical to advanced manufacturing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD China currently dominates global supply chains for many of these resources, which are essential in producing technologies such as electric vehicles, lasers, and smartphones. 'Given national security considerations and the experience during the pandemic, a certain degree of de-risking is here to stay,' Lagarde said. 'Few countries are willing to remain dependent on others for strategic industries.' The preliminary agreement between Washington and Beijing marks a rare step toward easing tensions, but analysts caution that fundamental disagreements remain, particularly in sectors deemed vital to national security.

Who is Tijjani Reijnders, Manchester City's latest signing?
Who is Tijjani Reijnders, Manchester City's latest signing?

The Hindu

timean hour ago

  • The Hindu

Who is Tijjani Reijnders, Manchester City's latest signing?

Manchester City capped a $150 million transfer spree ahead of the Club World Cup by signing Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan on Wednesday. Reijnders, 26, joined for an initial fee of €55 million ($63 million) and is the second midfielder — after France playmaker Rayan Cherki — to arrive during the special June 1–10 transfer window, created to let Club World Cup teams reshape their squads. City also signed Algeria left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri from Wolverhampton for $42 million and paid Lyon $41 million for Cherki. Having opted against pursuing Germany playmaker Florian Wirtz — reportedly close to joining Liverpool — City ended up spending roughly the same amount across three players. This latest splurge follows a $200 million outlay in the winter window, taking City's 2025 spending to over $350 million as the club reloads under Pep Guardiola in its bid to reclaim the Premier League title from Liverpool. Reijnders was recently named Serie A's best midfielder after a breakout season in which he scored 15 goals and registered five assists across competitions for a struggling Milan side that missed out on European qualification. He had joined Milan from AZ Alkmaar in 2023 for about €20 million and recently signed a new contract through 2030 — the same term he's signed with City. City is also preparing to part ways with Kevin De Bruyne, ending his decade-long spell at the club. Reijnders and Cherki are expected to link up with Rodri in a refreshed midfield. Reijnders said he was 'ecstatic' to join City: 'It's a dream come true to play in the Premier League. Many top Dutch players have starred here, and it's inspiring to follow in their footsteps.' Director of football Hugo Viana said Reijnders, known for his ball-carrying ability, would bring 'extra energy, composure and creativity' to the midfield. City announced the transfer a day after the special window closed but reportedly completed the deal in time for Reijnders to feature in the expanded 32-team Club World Cup, which starts Saturday. City is grouped with Juventus, Al Ain, and Wydad Casablanca, and opens its campaign on June 18. Related Topics Manchester City

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store