SK Global Chemical Acquires Arkema’s Functional Polyolefins, Creating World’s Leading Specialty Polyolefins Company
February 2020
SK Global Chemical (SKGC) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Arkema’s Functional Polyolefins business, adding to its leading materials portfolio encompassing Olefins, Aromatics, Performance Chemicals, Polymers and EPDM. The acquisition further broadens SK Global Chemical’s global reach and enhances the company’s ability to meet customers’ current and future challenges. This acquisition will make SK Global Chemical the world’s leading specialty polyolefins company with an outstanding portfolio with significant growth opportunities.
The transaction includes all infrastructure related to specialty polyolefins production units in France and the technology to produce Ethylene Copolymers and Terpolymers for the food packaging, automotive, cable, electronics and coatings markets. The marketing, R&D, international sales network and supply chain department will also transfer to SK Global Chemical. A newly established business unit, SK Functional Polymer (SKFP), headquartered in Paris, France, will lead the development, production, marketing, sales of well-known brands Lotader®, Lotryl®, Orevac® and Evatane®.
The acquisition is directly aligned with SK Global Chemical ‘s strategy to grow in applications serving the food packaging, automotive, electronics as well as wire and cable market and further broaden SK Global Chemical’s portfolio and enhance the company ability to meet global customers’ current and future challenges. SK Global Chemical’s acquisition allows the company to expand its production network across Europe, adding to its operation in Spain.
About SK Global Chemical (SKGC)
Established in 2011 through a split-off SK Innovation’s petrochemical business, SKGC is one of the leading petrochemical companies in Korea, with a well-balanced product portfolio encompassing Olefins, Aromatics, Performance Chemicals, Polymers and EPDM. SKGC operates production facilities in Korea and China, and its global sales network encompasses major regions including United States, South America, Europe, Asia and The Middle East.
SKGC’s history dates back to 1962, originally established as the National Oil Corporation, where we laid the foundation for the petrochemical industry in Korea by being the first in the country to build a naphtha cracking facility. Since being acquired by SK Group in 1980, SKGC, as part of the petrochemical business division of the SK group, has grown and expanded to solidify the position as a major integrated petrochemical company, supplying a wide range of products from raw and supplementary materials to advanced materials essential in numerous industry sectors. Through continuous facility investments, R&D and technological improvements, SKGC is maintaining its position as the leader of the petrochemical industry in Korea.
SKGC has been successfully expanding its global presence by establishing Joint Ventures with leading global petrochemicals players since 2000’s. Our current partnerships with SINOPEC (2013), JP Energy (2014), and SABIC (2015), and the acquisition of Strategic Specialty Polyolefins from The Dow Chemical Company in 2017 have led us to develop a strong relationship with experienced players in the industry and further expand our core business both domestically and globally.
Since establishment, SKGC has been a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., LTD, which acts as the intermediate holding company of SK Group’s energy and chemical business. SK Group is the 2nd largest conglomerate in Korea in terms of sales (US$ 119 Billion) as of FY2019, with three main pillars of business, (1) Energy & Chemicals, (2) Information, Telecommunication, and Semiconductors, and (3) Marketing & Services.
www.evatane.com
www.lotryl.com
www.lotader.com
www.orevac.com