Korea's Honam Petrochemical Corp will pay W1.52 trillion $1.25 billion to buy a 72.6% stake in Malaysia's largest petrochemicals maker, Titan Chemicals Corp, the Korean company said in a statement late last week. It is Honam's first ever overseas purchase and Korea's largest foreign acquisition this year.
Korean chemical companies are looking to grow overseas as the tentative global economic recovery has raised demand for ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics and synthetic fibres. Honam, which is Korea's second biggest ethylene producer, said its annual ethylene production capacity will rise from 1.75 million tonnes to 2.47 million tonnes after the purchase. It also hopes the deal will lead to more business in Southeast...
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