The Dow Chemical Company on December 23, 2015 finalised the transaction to sell its ownership interest in MEGlobal to Equate Petrochemical Company KSC and has received $1.5 billion in pre-tax proceeds. Dow had previously announced its intent to optimise its ownership in its Kuwaiti joint ventures and the closure of this transaction represents progress toward delivering this commitment.
“This is a significant step in our Kuwaiti JV consolidation activities and demonstrates Dow’s drive to review our entire joint venture portfolio with a best-owner mindset, with the objective of delivering maximum value to our shareholders. This transaction enables Dow to maintain our commitment to these long-standing joint ventures, while returning value to our owners,” said Andrew N Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer.
MEGlobal is a world leader in the manufacture and marketing of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (EG), and is headquartered in Dubai, UAE. Established in July 2004, MEGlobal currently markets over 2.5 million metric tonnes of EG per year globally. EG is used as a raw material in the manufacture of polyester fibers (clothing and other textiles), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins, antifreeze formulations and other industrial products. MEGlobal is a joint venture between Dow and Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of Kuwait. Through its ownership interest in Equate, Dow retains a 42.5 percent ownership stake in MEGlobal.
Established in 1995, Equate is the operator of an integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing more than 5 million tonnes annually of high-quality petrochemical products, including polyethylene, ethylene, and EG, that are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
