Bataan Polyethylene Corp majority stockholders confirm sale of their stake

British Petroleum, Petronas and Sumitomo– the management and foreign shareholders of the Bataan Polyethylene Corp (BPC)– confirmed yesterday that they have sold their majority stake of 83 percent to Tybalt, Ltd., a Cayman Islands-based investment firm.

They refused to disclose how much Tybalt paid for their stake in BPC.

The sale of BP International Ltd.’s 38.5 percent, Petroliam Nasional Berhad’s 38.5 percent and Sumitomo Corporation’s six percent shareholding in BPC was concluded last June 23, 2005.

The formal transfer of the shares coincided with the delayed turnover of the plant facilities, the interest for which were earlier acquired by Polymax Worldwide, Ltd. of the Metro Alliance Group, the purchaser of the Senior Secured Debts of BPC from IFC.

Industrialist William Gatchalian is the majority shareholder of Metro Alliance.

BPC president Tony Atkins said the purchase of BPC "augurs well for the further development of the local petrochemical industry and for the country in general".

Among the ASEAN countries, the Philippines lags behind in the growth and development of its petrochemical industry.

The entry of Tybalt Ltd. in BPC is expected to strengthen the midstream sector of the industry and decrease dependence on raw materials importation.

The BPC plant, with a rated production capacity of 275,000 MT per annum, uses the award winning Innovene gas phase technology, now licensed by BP’s new petrochemicals subsidiary, also called Innovene.

Tybalt, the new owner of BPC, wants the early recommissioning of the plant which stopped operations in August 2002 due to heavy losses.

Tybalt wants to position BPC competitively with other petrochemical plants in the ASEAN region.

BPC’s plant is located in Mariveles, Bataan. BPC started commercial operation on Feb. 1, 2001. It was a joint venture among local and foreign partners.

The foreign partners included BP International Ltd. of the United Kingdom, Petroliam Nasional Berhad of Malaysia and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan.

The local partners formed the Bataan Polyethylene Holding Corp. which was comprised of Proration and Plastic City Corp.