Benvic takes over the Celanese compounds in Ferrara Marconi

27 January 2021

The European leader in the production of highly innovative PVC-based thermoplastic solutions and biopolymers, Benvic Group, announced that it has reached an agreement with Celanese, the leading multinational in the production of chemical solutions and specialty materials, for the purchase of the compounding operations of the Ferrara Marconi (Ferrara, Italy) plant and of certain assets dedicated to the worldwide production of Infill and Appliance PP and to the European Footwear business.

Entirely dedicated to compounding activities - which consists of the production of polymeric compounds - the divestment of the Ferrara Marconi site is part of Celanese’s strategy to create a European Compounding Centre of Excellence at the company’s Forli Italian facility.

Benvic, already present in Ferrara, decided to acquire Celanese’s business with the aim of strengthening its presence in the non-PVC based engineering polymer compounding sector and to continue investing in the Ferrara Marconi site so that it becomes one of the largest production sites in Italy in the compounding sector. During 2018, Benvic had already acquired the activities of Vinyloop at the same site, with a significant contribution to employment levels related to the start-up of biopolymer compounding activities.

Benvic expects to conclude the acquisition in the coming months and start production in the Ferrara Marconi site by June 2021, once the due information and all consultation procedures with local Unions and regional stakeholders in order to mitigate the social impact and find the best possible long-term solution for the employees of the Celanese production site have been completed.

The acquisition of Celanese’s compounding assets represents the eighth acquisition made by Benvic in Europe, after Investindustrial’s entry into the shareholding structure in 2018. In Italy, in particular, Benvic has completed five transactions. In addition to the investments in Ferrara (Vinyloop and Celanese’s compounding assets), in 2019 Benvic acquired Plantura, a company leader in the production of biopolymers, and Modenplast, a leader in the production of compounding and pipes dedicated to the medical sector. In 2020, Benvic acquired Luc & Bel, a company based in Carpi and a leader in the production of medical components. Italy clearly plays a key role in Benvic Group’s innovation strategy. Benvic currently employs around one hundred people in its plants in Italy.