Ultra Group Sells Oxiteno to Indorama Ventures

Ultra Group, São Paolo, has agreed to sell Oxiteno to Indorama Ventures for $1.3 billion.

“This acquisition is natural and appropriate,” said Aloke Lohia, group CEO, Indorama Ventures. “We have a solid and successful track record of having integrated 50 acquisitions over the last 20 years. Together with Oxiteno, we are creating a global company with a unique position in surfactants.”

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand, is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Europe, Africa, Americas and Asia Pacific. The company’s portfolio comprises combined PET, integrated oxides and derivatives, and fibers. Indorama Ventures products serve major FMCG and automotive sectors; i.e., beverages, hygiene, personal care, tire and safety segments. Indorama Ventures has about 24,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of $10.6 billion in 2020. The company is listed in the Dow Jones Emerging Markets and World Sustainability Indices (DJSI).

The transaction marks the end of the first stage of the Ultra Group’s portfolio review process. The company seeks more suitable and synergistic investments in the oil and gas downstream value chain, with Ipiranga, Ulltragaz and Ultracargo as part of the Group. The next stage will include additional investments in the same value chain, adding adjacent businesses such as ampm and Abastece Aí, as well as strategies to seize opportunities associated with the energy matrix transition.
 
“This transaction concludes an important step in the process of strategic  reorganization of our investments, allowing the group to focus on the continuous strengthening of its core businesses and on developing a more synergistic portfolio across sectors that we know well and in which we have competitive advantages,” said Ultra Group CEO Frederico Curado. “Oxiteno was established and developed by Ultra Group over the last 40 years and it has achieved an outstanding position in Brazil and in Latin America. This sale agreement allowed us to bring value to both Ultrapar, Indorama Ventures and their stakeholders.”

Oxiteno’s divestment is part of the same sale processes of the pharmaceutical retail Extrafarma and the 50% shareholding Ultra Group held in the electronic payment company ConectCar. 
 
Oxiteno was one of the pioneering companies in the petrochemical industry in Brazil. Its first manufacturing site was inaugurated in the early 1970s, in the city of Mauá, state of São Paulo. It began its internationalization process in 2003 and became a leader in the specialty chemicals and surfactants industries in the Americas, with manufacturing sites in the US, Mexico,and Uruguay, as well as business offices in China, Belgium, Argentina and Colombia.