Sabic deals take materials M&A spotlight

Two German financial firms — Mutares and Aequita — will take over the bulk of Sabic's plastics businesses in a deal announced in the first half of 2026.

The first-half plastics materials mergers and acquisitions market was highlighted by Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) selling plastics businesses to two different buyers. Riyadh-based Sabic agreed to sell its engineering thermoplastics business in the Americas and Europe to German financial firm Mutares SE & Co. KGaA for $450 million and its European petrochemicals business to Aequita SE & Co. KGaA, another German financial firm, for $500 million. The business being acquired by Mutares includes well-known brand names such as Lexan PC and Valox PBT.

The business employs 2,900 and has annual sales of around $2.5 billion. It operates eight production sites with annual resin production capacity of about 2.4 billion pounds and annual compounding capacity of about 1.7 billion pounds. Mutares owns and operates several plastics related businesses.

The Munich-based firm has been active in sweeping up production being discarded by other companies. It purchased Fischer Automotive Systems GmbH & Co KG in 2024 and the plastic parts business of filtration supplier Mann + Hummel in 2022. Major end markets served by the business being acquired by Mutares are automotive with a 39 percent share, building and construction at 20 percent and consumer products at 17 percent.

Mutares said the business is the world’s second largest polycarbonate producer, the leading ABS maker in the U.S. and the only U.S. producer of PBT. Sabic’s Americas and European ETP business makes PC, polybutylene terephthalate and ABS resin compounds at U.S. sites in Mount Vernon, Ind.; Ottawa,Ill.; Bay St. Louis, Miss.; and Burkville, Ala.; as well as at sites in Tampico, Mexico; Campinas, Brazil; Cartagena, Spain; and Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands. The assets being sold to Mutares were part of GE Plastics, which Sabic acquired for $11.6 billion in 2007.

Robin Laik, co-founder and CEO of Mutares, said the business being acquired “has a highly skilled workforce and strong customer relationships. Under focused ownership, our priority is to ensure continuity, support employees through the transition and unlock the full potential of our asset base as a standalone ETP platform.” Sabic’s specialties business unit — including Noryl, Ultem and LNP materials — will not be included in the sale.

Noryl is a polyphenylene ether resin, Ultem is a polyetherimide and the LNP line includes compounds and some polycarbonate copolymers. Noryl and Ultem are well known brand names originated by GE Plastics. The specialties unit being retained also includes additives, additive manufacturing and capacitor films.

The business being sold to Aequita makes ethylene, propylene, polypropylene, high density polyethylene, low density PE and linear low density PE, and value-added polymer compounds at a number of manufacturing sites, including Teesside, England; Geleen, Netherlands; Gelsenkirchen, Germany; and Genk, Belgium. Aequita acquired four European resin plants from LyondellBasell in 2025. Officials added that Aequita “sees substantial potential to realize synergies and drive operational improvements across both businesses.”

In a news release, Sabic officials said these transactions “represent significant steps in the advancement of Sabic’s strategy and constitute a core component of its broader portfolio optimization program.” They added that the divestments “together establish a strong foundation for future profitable growth and reinforce the company’s long-term strategic positioning for maximum value add.” Check out our exclusive Mergers & Acquisitions Tracker to find a roundup of plastics industry deals in the last 12 months M&A Tracker