MUMBAI, India (Feb. 24, 2010)– Indian petrochemical giant Reliance Industries Ltd. is widely reported to have sweetened its offer for LyondellBasell Industries AF SCA to $14.5 billion.
Reliance had first made an undisclosed offer for Rotterdam, the Netherlands, based LyondellBasell on Nov. 21. That bid was reported to be around $13.5 billion, and would have been for a controlling stake.
The new offer would give Reliance a minority stake, but would give the firm super-voting power to control Lyondell's board, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The new bid would give LyondellBasell creditors the option to take either cash or equity in the company, according to reports that quote sources close to the deal.
LyondellBasell, the world's largest polyolefins maker, had filed for protection from creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York in January 2009. The company has been working toward a reorganization plan.
On Feb. 16, LyondellBasell announced that it had reached an agreement that would pave the way for the company to emerge from Chapter 11. That deal resolved objections to the company's reorganization plan by the company's unsecured creditors by giving the creditors an equity stake in the new company.
If the $14.5 billion deal with Mumbai-based Reliance goes through, it would be one of the largest in the history of the global plastics industry. Some other major deals include:
— Newell Co. paid about $5.8 billion to buy Rubbermaid Inc. in 1999.
— In 2000, Dow Chemical Co. bought Union Carbide Corp. for $11.6 billion.
— Ineos Group bought the polyolefins and olefins business of British Petroleum plc for $9 billion cash in 2005.
— Saudi Basic Industries Corp. paid General Electric Co. $11.6 billion for GE Plastics in 2007.