Australia“s only soda-ash producer, Penrice Ltd., has been bought by US chemicals group DG Harris in a deal worth US$ 100 million. Harris was awaiting Foreign Investment Review Board approval and als…
Australia“s only soda-ash producer, Penrice Ltd., has been bought by US chemicals group DG Harris in a deal worth US$ 100 million. Harris was awaiting Foreign Investment Review Board approval and also the sign-off on a US$ 170 million co-generation project which would provide low-cost steam energy at Penrice“s Port Adelaide plant. Penrice“s major shareholder, management buyout group Byvest, confirmed that an agreement had been reached and executed to sell its key 54% stake in the company. Penrice ranks as one of Asia“s major producers of soda ash, excluding India and China, with sales of US$ 100 million and a quarter of its annual 400,000-tonne production shipped overseas. Soda ash forms a vital salt feedstock for glass-making, metals refining, chemicals processing, water purification systems and bleach in detergents. The world“s largest soda-ash producer, US cartel ANSAC, produces 4.5 million tonnes a year and had been rumoured as a possible buyer for Penrice. Penrice reported an operating profit before tax and abnormal items of US$ 8.187 million in 1994-95. Byvest was involved in the 1990 management buyout of Penrice from ICI and had wanted to sell its stake for some time. A merger and public float of Penrice, Brunner Mond and Kenyan off-shoot Magadi Soda to form the world“s fifth-largest soda-ash company, with sales of US$ 400 million, was contemplated a few years ago, but ran into tax difficulties.