JSR's elastomer business to relaunch as Eneos Materials in 2022

TOKYO—JSR Corp.'s elastomers business, which includes the manufacture and sale of synthetic rubbers, is set to be relaunched as Eneos Materials Corp. following its expected sale next year.

Under a May 11 agreement with Eneos Corp., JSR agreed to establish a new company and transfer the elastomers business and the shares of subsidiaries and affiliates related to this business to a new company.

Eneos is then expected to acquire all the shares of the new company and make it a wholly owned subsidiary on April 1, 2022.

In a Nov. 19 statement, JSR said Eneos had announced the trade name of the new company as Eneos Materials Corp.

The two parties agreed in May on an enterprise value of $971 million (115 billion yen) for the business, which posted an operating loss of $98.7 million, on 20 percent lower sales of $1.2 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31.

JSR's elastomers business contributed about 21 percent of total group sales in fiscal year 2020 and includes a portfolio of styrene-butadiene rubbers (ESBR and SSBR), polybutadiene rubber, polyisoprene, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, ethylene-propylene rubber and thermoplastics elastomers.

Eneos said a key reason behind the acquisition was the company's SSBR materials, which it said are "indispensable to the mobility industry."

"Eneos expects tires to be needed regardless of changes in (vehicle) power sources and forms, and elastomers business is a field where growth can be expected in the future," said Eneos.

The acquisition is part of Eneos' 2040 long-term vision, which sees the group focusing on high-performance materials as a growth area.

"By acquiring technology in new core areas for our materials business, Eneos will be able to provide high-performance materials that support various industries including the mobility industry," it added.

Formerly JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., Eneos is based in Tokyo and is a leading Japanese petroleum company.