Selenis buys Italian PET maker Aussapol

Portuguese PET resin and polyester fiber manufacturer Selenis SGPS SA is going international with its purchase of Italian PET resin producer Aussapol SpA. Aussapol parent Radici Group wants to move away from commodity plastics to focus on engineering resins and nylon fibers, where it hopes to compete among the five top European producers.

“We move away from the plastics commodity market to put all our efforts into production of specialized polymers, granting meanwhile a greater financial stability to our group,” said Radici President Angelo Radici.

Bergamo, Italy-based Radici will retain a small piece of the PET market: Caucasian PET, a preform injection molding company in Rustavi, Georgia, in the former Soviet Union. The plant has 40 workers, annual sales of $6 million and customers including Coca-Cola Co. and local mineral-water suppliers.

“Caucasian PET is still a good niche market and activity for us. The local [PET packaging] market is just starting to grow,” said Radici spokesman Filippo Servale.

Aussapol of Pordenone runs two Italian polymer plants in San Giorgio di Nogaro with the capacity to produce 320 million pounds of PET resin annually. Aussapol employs 140 and recorded annual sales last year of 130 million euros ($156 million).

Portalegre, Portugal-based Selenis, formerly part of Hoechst AG and previously known as Trevira Fibras SA, was acquired in 2002 by Iberian company Imatosgil Group. Selenis has a plant in Portalegre that can produce 154 million pounds of PET annually. The company also has a 15 million-pound-per-year PET recycling unit.

The deal is subject to approval by Italian competition authorities. Apart from PET resin, Selenis can turn out 44 million pounds of polyester fiber annually. The company employs 230 and generates annual sales of 91 million euros ($109 million).