BPI breaks into the North American films market

Chemical News: BPI breaks into the North American films market

https://www.chemnet.com Aug 23,2007 David Arminas
21 August 2007 – British Polythene Industries (BPI) has broken into the North American market with the purchase of western Canadian manufacturer AT Films.

The Edmonton, Alberta, producer of agricultural, greenhouse and construction films was sold for US$12m cash by parent Celanese Corporation, based in Dallas.

Celanese remains owner of speciality polymers business AT Plastics of which AT Films was a division.

BPI is one of the largest manufacturers of polythene films, bags and sacks in Europe. The AT Films purchase brings with it a new product, a large agricultural bag used for storing grains for animal feed or that are subsequently used in the production of bio-fuels, a potentially lucrative area.

AT Films produced 12,500 tonnes of polythene film products last year with sales of $35m, around $2,800 per tonne, noted analysts Investec Securities.

The sale of the films division is part of Celanese’s strategy to divest itself of non-core businesses. There are no plans to sell the plastics business, also based in Edmonton and which concentrates on development and supply of speciality resins and compounds.

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