European PVC maker Kem One Group is being sold to financial giant Apollo Global Management for an undisclosed price.
Apollo of New York is buying Kem One of Lyon, France, from Alain de Krassny, the firm's president and majority owner.
The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. Kem One operates almost 2 billion pounds of annual PVC resin capacity and makes related products at eight sites in France and Spain. The 1,400-employee firm was spun off from Arkema Group in 2014.
In a Sept. 14 news release, Kem One officials said that the firm has leading positions in mass and suspension PVC in Europe, and "recognized expertise" in specialty PVC, including paste PVC and post-chlorinated PVC.
They added that since 2014 under de Krassny's leadership, Kem One "has undergone a complete transformation," executing on a long-term strategy to improve the quality and reliability of its production facilities, lower production costs, and reduce its environmental footprint.
Kem One invested more than 500 million euros ($588 million) in this strategy, which included the conversion and upgrading of electrolysis units in Lavéra, France; the construction of an ethylene storage terminal in Fos-sur-Mer, France; and the upcoming conversion and upgrade of electrolysis units at Fos-sur-Mer.
"I am very proud of what we have accomplished since the end of 2013," de Krassny said in the release. "Today, Kem One has robust foundations. I am convinced that Apollo's strategic ambitions for Kem One will enable the further acceleration of Kem One's development."
Apollo partner Samuel Feinstein added that de Krassny "has built Kem One into one of Europe's leading chlorovinyls producers."
"We are tremendously excited to build on Alain's legacy and further grow and develop the business, whether it is through the planned conversion of the Fos plant to enhance cost and energy efficiencies or the many avenues we see for inorganic growth," he added.
Apollo is a major financial firm with $472 billion in assets under management. The firm has made several plastics investments over the years, most recently buying a majority stake in leading auto parts maker and injection molder ABC Technologies Holdings Inc. of Toronto in April.