BP's Innovene plans US$1bln IPO

13-Sep-05

BP Plc had arrived at a decision last year to either sell or float the business of its main petrochemical subsidiary Innovene Inc. The oil giant plans a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) to raise US$1 billion. The regulatory offering document does not specify numbers, but analysts expect London-based BP to sell between 20-30% of Innovene Will this decision lay on the line Reliance Industries Ltd.'s attempt to acquire Innovene for almost US15 billion? The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission follows Innovene's deal earlier this year to build a US$2 billion plastics plant in Saudi Arabia to orient the unit toward fast-growing Asian markets. As per the MOU signed between Saudi-owned Delta International and Innovene, Innovene is to build a cracker unit, which will convert natural gas into ethylene. Innovene recorded revenues of US$11.1 bln in H1- 2005, compared with US$7.8 billion in the same period last year. Total petrochemical production capacity was about 40 billion pounds pa and its refineries had a combined crude oil distillation capacity of about 400 thousand bpd.