The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has terminated talks to buy a stake in Brazil's petrochemicals company Braskem from its controlling company Novonor, Braskem said on Monday.
At the end of last year, the state oil giant of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) proposed a non-binding offer to buy a stake in Braskem, in an offer implying an equity value of $2.14 billion (10.5 billion Brazilian reals) for Novonor's 38.3% stake in the Brazilian company.
The non-binding offer from November was conditional on a satisfactory conclusion of a due diligence process, among other things.
On Monday, Braskem cited in its securities filing a Novonor letter, which said it had been informed by ADNOC that the Abu Dhabi firm was no longer interested in continuing the process and negotiations regarding a possible transaction involving Braskem.
ADNOC is pursuing deals to expand in international markets, including in petrochemicals, as the major oil producers in the Middle East are keen to expand the markets for their oil and products and lock in future demand.
Petrochemicals are a key driving force of global oil demand. Recent estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) have shown that 90% of China's increased oil demand from 2021 to 2024 comes from chemical feedstocks like LPG, ethane, and naphtha. The IEA notes that between 2019 and 2024, additional Chinese production capacity for ethylene and propylene will exceed the combined current capacities of Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
UAE's ADNOC entered at the end of 2023 into a binding agreement under which ADNOC would buy OCI's entire stake in Fertiglobe for $3.62 billion. The deal supports ADNOC's chemicals growth strategy and its plans to establish a global growth platform for ammonia, the Abu Dhabi company said in December.
Separately, BP and ADNOC suspended earlier this year talks to buy a 50% stake in Israel's natural gas producer NewMed, due to uncertainty in the region.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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