Reliance keen on GE's plastics business

Reliance Industries is likely to bid for General Electric's plastics business that is expected to be put on the block.

The deal may be priced at nearly $10 billion. Although GE has not officially confirmed its plan to sell, rumours cite that Reliance Industries will certainly join the race for the unit when GE decides.

Investment banking sources said Reliance had made its desire clear to be a global petrochemicals major.

Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani also announced plans to look at both organic and inorganic growth to achieve the goal.

"The plastics business of GE should be a natural choice for Reliance," a source said. A Reliance spokesperson declined to comment.

The Reliance stock gained 1.72 per cent to close at Rs 1295.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

Reliance has been pumping huge money for its organic growth but it did not do anything major on the inorganic growth front. Reliance's last foreign acquisition came a couple of years ago when it bought German speciality polyester manufacturer, Trevira, for Rs 430 crore.

Trevira was the market leader in Europe in high-value applications of polyester, particularly in automotive and home textiles.

The possibility of the sale of the plastics business has been speculated for long time ever since GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt hinted that GE might pull out of some of its commodity businesses.

Petrochem analysts said the plastics unit had an estimated revenue of $7 billion but the enterprise value might be in the region of $10 billion.

The plastics division contributes about 8 per cent to GE's total revenue and 5 per cent to its net profit.

However, factors such as increasing raw material costs, rising competition and a downtrend in the automobile industry, have hurt the company's bottomline in the recent past.

In the first three quarters of 2006, GE plastics' revenue was flat at $5 billion, but operating profit dropped 13 per cent to $560 million.

Reports in international newspapers said GE was planning to sell the plastics business. A few private equity funds, including Apollo Management, the Blackstone group and the buyout fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), were interested in the division, the newspapers wrote.

In addition to Reliance, the global petrochem majors such as Dow Chemical Company, BASF and Dupont should also be interested in acquiring the company, if it was up for sale, analysts said.

US-based investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has been reportedly mandated by GE to coordinate with private equity firms and other companies interested in bidding for the company's plastics division.

Last year, it was speculated that Reliance was eyeing the refinery and petrochemicals facilities of BP in France and Belgium. The market talk then said that the bid size was up to $2 billion.

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SPORTY MOVE

Although GE has not officially confirmed its plan to sell, rumours cite that Reliance Industries will certainly join the race for the unit when GE decides

Reliance's last foreign acquisition came a couple of years ago when it bought German specialty polyester manufacturer, Trevira, for Rs 430 crore

The plastics division contributes about 8 per cent to GE's total revenue and 5 per cent to its net profit