Malmö May 17, 2022 – Perstorp Group, a leading sustainability-driven global specialty chemicals company, today said that it is to be acquired by PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG). PCG announced today that it has signed a Securities Purchase Agreement on 14 May 2022 to acquire the entire equity interest in Perstorp Holding AB. The agreement was signed with Financière Forêt S.à.r.l, a company under PAI Partners, a European private equity firm.

Jan Secher, President and CEO of Perstorp said, “We are excited to become part of the PETRONAS family. I see a strong commonality in values and priorities for how to take our respective businesses forward, meeting the challenges and opportunities of the future. By tapping into PCG’s strength and market leading position in the Asia Pacific region, we are confident that Perstorp can continue to develop into its next phase of growth. Being part of PCG means Perstorp gets the scale to increase the pace of innovation and accelerate our sustainable transformation, which is at the forefront of the chemical industry. PCG’s and Perstorp’s businesses complement each other very well.”

“Perstorp is an outstanding strategic fit for PCG and enables us to participate in attractive end-markets such as paints and coatings, construction, plastic additives, personal care and food, feed & nutrition, paints and coatings that share a robust growth outlook. This acquisition will also provide us critical talent, know-how, technological platforms and proven customer channels to address the pressing needs of the market for more eco-friendly and sustainable solutions,” said PCG Managing Director and CEO, Ir. Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof.

Established more than 140 years ago, Perstorp is a leading niche specialty chemicals player that develops sustainable solutions with focus on the Resins & Coatings, Engineered Fluids and Animal Nutrition markets. The company has a global sales presence, seven state-of-the art manufacturing sites in Europe, US and China (the 8th plant will be ready in India in 2023) and three research and development (R&D) centres worldwide with approximately 1,500 employees serving more than 2,600 customers globally. Perstorp is highly regarded among its customers for its product quality and application expertise, supply reliability, customer centricity and Pro-Environment products and solutions.

“We find Perstorp attractive for their expansive range of products, established customer base as well as their market leadership in selected chemicals, which are complementary to PCG. It is our intention to make Perstorp our growth platform into the Specialty chemicals field. With Perstorp’s holistic and innovative approach to reduce environmental impact in line with PCG’s aim for positive environmental and social contribution, we are confident that together we can accelerate our sustainability journey towards circular economy and carbon neutrality by 2050,” concluded Ir. Mohd Yusri.

PCG’s journey to achieve its vision of becoming the preferred chemical company providing innovative customer solutions is based on a clear strategy; to strengthen its basic petrochemicals portfolio, and to selectively diversify into derivatives, specialty chemicals and solutions. In the execution of this strategy, the acquisition of Perstorp group marks the creation of a significant specialty chemicals portfolio, while enhancing PCG’s overall earnings. This transaction follows the acquisition of BRB Group in 2019, a leading global independent producer and formulator of silicones, lube oil additives and chemicals, which launched PCG into new areas aligned with its long-term growth ambitions.

“I am convinced that Perstorp and PCG can learn from each other’s capabilities to ensure we bring the best of our two companies to our customers and our employees. I am confident that PCG will provide the best possible ownership for Perstorp in the years to come,” concluded Jan Secher.

The acquisition values Perstorp Group at an enterprise value of EUR 2,300.0 million.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to relevant regulatory and shareholders’ approvals.

For more information please find PCG:s media release here: https://www.petronas.com/pcg/media/media-release.

Reflo™ selects INEOS Styrolution Zylar® 631 for its award-winning children’s drinkware

• Zylar® 631 named as a new material in award winning Smart Cups for children
• Key properties of Zylar 631 make it the perfect material solution for safe, easy-to-clean, reusable drinkware applications

Aurora, Ill, USA, May 17, 2022 – Key material properties in durability and safety make INEOS Styrolution’s Zylar® 631 the material of choice in the production of reusable Smart Cups for children by Reflo™.

Reflo, a drinkware design company, has selected Zylar 631 from leading global styrenics supplier INEOS Styrolution. Reflo will use Zylar 631 in their patented, multi-award-winning, reusable training cups for children and toddlers. According to the company, healthcare professionals recommend their innovative, Smart Cup design to encourage safe and clean, cup transitioning fundamentals for children.

Zylar is a clear impact modified styrene acrylic copolymer (MBS) offering practical toughness, excellent clarity, and superior processing over competitive materials. Zylar’s lower processing temperature compared to other polymers results in lower energy consumption and higher productivity. Additionally, Zylar meets USP class VI and has good resistance to many detergents and cleaning solutions.

Key material attributes such as an excellent balance of stiffness and toughness, good impact resistance, outstanding clarity, brilliant colorability and being dishwasher safe, make Zylar 631 an ideal polymer for safe drinkware applications such as the Reflo Smart Cup for children.

“As the manufacturer of the number one children’s training cup, Reflo is very excited about the durability and safety of the Zylar 631 resin from INEOS Styrolution for use in our product,” says Pete Draganic, president, Reflo.

Bernardo Fernández, business director, transparent specialties, INEOS Styrolution America, says, “We truly believe that our Zylar 631 is the perfect solution to contribute to the unique design and functionality of the Reflo Smart Cup. We are very pleased to work with Reflo and are excited to have this new success story for our Zylar portfolio.”

Westfalia Fruit Group, a leading multinational supplier of avocados, has achieved the One Carbon World Carbon Neutral International Standard for 15 of its businesses for 2020.

As part of this project, Westfalia Fruit calculated its footprint for 2020 with the support of One Carbon World. Westfalia Fruit in Peru, Westfalia Colombia, Westfalia Fruit Marketing in South Africa and Westfalia Fruit BV in the Netherlands have also achieved carbon neutrality status for their scope 1 & 2 emissions as well as certification under the One Carbon World Carbon Neutral International Standard, a carbon footprint verification organization and a recognized resource partner in the UN’s Climate Neutral Now initiative.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to the environment we work towards the wellbeing of the planet and are focused on climate change mitigation. We are proud to receive this certification which is a step on the road to our long-term target to be ‘lifetime carbon neutral’ by 2049,” said Johnathan Sutton Group Safety & Environment Executive at Westfalia Fruit International.

“We are guardians of the environments and communities in which we operate, and our aim is to ensure our environmental commitments become an integral part of our day-to-day activities. We seek ways to continually improve our environmental performance and operate in a responsible manner, by focusing on priorities such as reducing waste and making reductions in our carbon emissions,” he continued.

In 2021 Westfalia Fruit made significant progress towards its sustainability targets: reducing the company’s carbon footprint per kilogram of fruit by 5%, waste to landfill by almost 9%, liquid fuel used by 26% and electricity usage by 4%. At the same time, it increased recycled waste by 28%, water use efficiency by 14% and own electricity generation by 50%.

For example, the company has pioneered a low-flow drip irrigation technique that saves a significant volume of the water used to grow the crop, while also increasing the output and economic value of the fruit. It is estimated that the approach will bring an overall 50% efficiency boost in farms where it is implemented.

For Westfalia Fruit’s GHG emissions that cannot currently be avoided, the company compensated with emissions reductions (carbon credits) certified by VERRA, through afforestation projects in South America that are converting degraded grasslands into forest plantations.

Westfalia Fruit UK also achieved a carbon neutral certification under Carbon Trust, an independent certification body for carbon footprints with an internationally recognised carbon neutral standard.

Detroit, Michigan, May 17, 2022 – At RAPID + TCT, GE Additive and Orchid Orthopedic Solutions (Orchid) – a global leader in the manufacture of orthopedic implants and instruments – announced they have signed a definitive agreement to continue driving the adoption of additive manufacturing to their suite of technologies through the development of electron beam melting (EBM) solutions in the medical implants sector.

Orchid will make a significant investment to enable scalability and full production support for its customers by purchasing GE Additive EBM Spectra L systems, service agreements, AP&C metal powders, and GE Additive’s AddWorks consultancy services. Installation of the first machines will commence in 2022. Following machine installation and validation, Orchid expects to be ready for production in 2024 to meet its customers’ requirements.

GE Additive and Orchid are focused on joint co-marketing activities aimed at driving further awareness of EBM technology in 3D metal printed large joint orthopedic implants.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with GE Additive to bring additive manufacturing capabilities to our customers,” said Nate Folkert, Chief Executive Officer, Orchid. “GE Additive has an excellent reputation and is a market leader in the additive space. Together with our extensive knowledge of large joint orthopedic manufacturing, we will be able to serve customers like never before. They will have the assurance that we are taking an extra level of care by partnering with GE Additive. I look forward to seeing Orchid drive continued additive manufacturing innovation as a result of this Agreement,” he added.

“I am honored that Orchid has put their confidence and trust in GE’s additive expertise, at such an important juncture in their metal AM journey. I look forward to our teams building a long-term relationship over the coming years,” said Riccardo Procacci, President & CEO, GE Additive.

“I have personal experience overseeing the deployment of a large fleet of industrialized EBM machines for precise scalable AM production at GE Aviation’s Avio Aero business, so I look forward to getting to know the Orchid team and sharing some of my insights. I also continue to be amazed at how our existing medical customers and orthopedic community are using metal additive to innovate and drive better and often personalized outcomes for patients,” he added.

Manufacturing Larger Parts Competitively

Once installed and operational, Orchid’s fleet of Spectra L machines will allow it to manufacture large orthopedic implants, such as complete knee components and acetabular cups and more competitively. As devices increase in complexity, this new EBM additive manufacturing capability with scalable precision allows cost-effective manufacturing to complement conventional methods.

The Arcam EBM Spectra L allows for the mass production of parts by providing the ability to tightly stack parts without compromising on quality. The improved melt process results in consistent material properties for thin and bulky geometries. Some of the key features:

• Enhanced part quality, with improved surface finish and improved material properties.
• Reduced cost per part due to increased build speed, the largest EBM build volume, and the ability to tightly stack parts
• Integrated system architecture, with standardized IoT interface, data analytics for machine health monitoring and the new Powder Recovery Station, PRS 30.

Barnes™ AND INEOS STYROLUTION COLLABORATE ON SUSTAINABLE STYRENICS SOLUTIONS

· Focus on mechanically-recycled ABS Terluran® ECO

· Material tests for optimal process and product quality repeatability and to enable customers to achieve their sustainable goals

· Events in Denmark and the USA

Molding Solutions, a strategic business unit within Barnes and pioneer of new technologies in injection molding, and INEOS Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, today announced that they will collaborate on a sustainable ABS[1] solution that will make molding biomaterials and sustainable plastics easier.

Molding Solutions and INEOS Styrolution will bundle their extensive expertise and unique technologies to make mechanically-recycled ABS solutions easier to process and achieve repeatable molded product quality with INEOS Styrolution’s Terluran® ECO MR-50/70 materials, in particular.

Yohann Bach, Product Director ABS Standard EMEA, INEOS Styrolution, says: “We are convinced that our Terluran ECO is the best mechanically-recycled ABS in the world. It offers identical properties to the respective native material. We are excited to offer it with a 50% recycling content (MR50) or with a 70% recycled content (MR70).”

Dr. Stefan Kruppa, Vice President of R&D for Molding Solutions, adds: “With our unique technology, we are able to expand our molding capabilities of post-consumer recyclate to meet the required product quality. Our aim is to enable customers to achieve the best results in the injection molding process with recycled ABS.”

Experts from Molding Solutions’ connected brands Priamus®, männer™, and Gammaflux® will be available at the Molding Solutions Network Open House at Manner USA Inc. in Lawrenceville, Georgia, for a live demonstration of the process and to discuss details with engineers and molders who work on next-generation product designs.

Terluran® ECO GP-22 grades were the first contribution from INEOS Styrolution to meet the INEOS pledge to incorporate at least 325kt/year of recycled materials into its products. The two new grades, Terluran® ECO GP-22 MR50 and Terluran® ECO GP-22 MR70, contain 50 and 70 percent of recycled post-consumer waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), respectively. Both grades will be available in black. Product properties of the grades match the mechanical property profile of their non-recycled counterparts.