The owner of Nova Chemicals, which operates a facility in Geismar, may be exploring a sale of the plastics and resins maker.
A report by Bloomberg News says Mubadala Investment—a government-controlled wealth fund in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that owns Nova—is working with financial advisers and “exploring options … including selling a stake to a Canadian pension fund or another company.” Bloomberg cited unidentified sources who have knowledge of the situation.
In 2017, NOVA Chemicals acquired ownership interest in the Geismar Olefins Facility and about 525 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the plant to operate the NOVA Ethylene Hub, the primary transaction point for ethylene in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
At the Canada-based company’s Geismar facility, the olefins team of 129 employees is responsible for the ethane transportation business, comprising approximately 200 miles of pipelines, as well as a refinery-grade propylene splitter.
According to Nova’s website, the Geismar facility annually produces approximately 1.95 billion pounds of ethylene and NOVA Chemicals share of the total capacity of the expanded plant is approximately 1.7 billion pounds per year. In addition, the plant also produces 114 million pounds of polymer grade propylene, 13 million gallons per year of crude butadiene and 14 million gallons year of debutanized aromatic concentrate.
Besides its Geismar operations, Nova has manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Ontario and Alberta, Canada. It is also a partner in a venture building an ethane cracker and a polyethylene production facility, both in Texas.
Nova could be valued at $10 billion or more, Bloomberg reports.
The company was acquired in 2009 by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co. which merged in 2017 with Mubadala Development Co. to create Mubadala Investment.
“We do not speak on behalf of our owners and Nova’s policy is not to comment on market speculation or rumors,” said Jennifer Nanz, director of communications at the Moon office.
