Thailand's PTT Chemical and PTT Aromatics and Refining have announced a consolidation plan that will create Southeast Asia's second-biggest petrochemical firm. The merger is subject to approval from PTT shareholders. As per Reuters, under the arrangement, PTTCH will swap shares with the new merged company at a ratio of one for 1.98, while PTTAR will swap shares with the new merged firm at a ratio of one for a half share, the companies said in statements. Based on the current market value of PTTAR and PTTCH, the merged company would have a market capitalisation of US$11 bln, second to Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals' US$16 bln.
The widely anticipated merger of the two units by parent PTT Pcl is expected to help costs and boost efficiency within the group. This coincides with a recovery in Asia's refining and petrochemical sector, with demand growth expected to outpace supply in 2011 and 2012. The merged entity will have stronger bargaining power with suppliers and an expanded downstream product range, including specialty products. PTTCH operates gas-based olefins chain petrochemicals with an annual capacity of 2.88 mln tons, while PTTAR is an integrated complex refinery and aromatics producer, with refining capacity of 280,000 bpd and aromatics capacity of 2.3 mln tpa.
25-Feb-11 
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