Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) has sold its Polymershapes business to Blackfriars Corp. for an undisclosed price.
The move marks a significant consolidation in the market for semi-finished plastics distribution, since Blackfriars already owns Laird Plastics Inc.
Polymershapes is a major distributor of plastic rod, sheet, tube, film and related products. It operates more than 70 stocking locations and serves 35,000 customers. Services offered by Polymershapes include cut-to-size, fabrication, machining and film conversion.
Polymershapes “has been a profitable business for Sabic,” CEO and Vice Chairman Yousef Al-Benyan said in a Sept. 6 news release. “As part of our ongoing effort to actively manage our portfolio, we concluded that this business no longer complements our core strategy.”
Sabic is a major global producer of plastics and specialty chemicals. The firm is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — and is 70 percent owned by the Saudi government — with U.S. headquarters in Houston.
Blackfriars is a private investment firm based in Northbrook, Ill. Since 2004, Blackfriars has owned Laird Plastics, a major plastic shapes distributor based in Boca Raton, Fla.
Sabic Polymershapes is the former GE Polymershapes business, dating back to GE Plastics' 2001 purchases of Commercial Plastics & Supply Corp. and Cadillac Plastics. Sabic bought the entire GE Plastics business from General Electric Co. in 2007.