RIL may woo us again, think Lyondell execs

LyondellBasell had rejected a $14.5-billion takeover offer from RIL in March.

Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL's) failed attempt to take over LyondellBasell, the third-largest independent petrochemical company worldwide, may not be the final one. The Netherlands-based major expects the bid to come again in the coming years, international media said, quoting a senior company official.

Anton de Vries, senior vice-president of olefins and polyolefins of LyondellBasell, said the failure of RIL to acquire LyondellBasell earlier this year may not be the end of the story. Creditors had thought their “upside potential” would be restricted if Reliance had taken a majority stake during Lyondell’s effort to emerge from bankruptcy. “The bid didn't work out, but I think it may come back in years to come,” said the reports, quoting de Vries.

An RIL spokesperson declined to comment and the company did not respond to a questionnaire.

The executive’s opinion could be a way to to convey to RIL the possibility of a fresh takeover attempt with a much higher valuation, said an industry analyst, who wished not to be named.

LyondellBasell had rejected a $14.5-billion (Rs 66,700 crore) takeover offer from Mukesh Ambani’s RIL in March. The board of directors of LyondellBasell had preferred a restructuring, as creditors of the company opposed selling a controlling stake to RIL to emerge from bankruptcy.

“Reliance will, of course, explore and seize opportunities elsewhere in the world and plant the Indian tricolour at many places on the global business map,” Mukesh Ambani had told shareholders at RIL's 36th annual general meeting in Mumbai last week.

RIL is setting up an off-gas cracker project at Jamnagar, with over 1.5 million tonnes per annum of olefin capacity, with matching downstream ones, to be one of the largest facilities in the world, he told the meeting.

LyondellBasell had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2009, as its debts had mounted to about $24 billion. After the reorganisation, about $18 billion of debt was converted into equity, with the formation of a new holding company, LyondellBasell Industries NV, with base in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and with a North American headquarters in Houston. As part of the reorganisation, it also raised $3.25 billion of debt, as well as $2.8 billion through a rights offering.

It closed four plants in North America and three in Europe as part of restructuring and will close another plant in Italy. It has bought three plants in West Asia and is expanding one in Thailand. The company expects an additional 30 million tonnes of polyolefin demand worldwide by 2014, with the Asia-Pacific region, mainly China and India, accounting for most of that increase, said Anton de Vries.

LyondellBasell was formed in December 2007, with the acquisition of Lyondell Chemical Company by Basell Polyolefins to create a combined entity, with sales of $ 30.8 billion in 2009.