OCI sells methanol business to Methanex for USD 2.05 bn: Nassef Sawiris-backed, Netherlands-headquartered chemicals company OCI Global has sold its entire methanol business — operating in the US and Europe — to Canadian methanol producer Methanex in a USD 2.05 bn agreement, OCI said in a press release (pdf). The purchase is set to be completed in 1H 2025, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Methanex is no stranger to Egypt: Methanex Egypt was the first to operate a methanol production facility in Egypt in 2011, with a current capacity of 1.3 mn tons per year. Earlier this week, Oil Minister Karim Badawi met with Methanex officials to discuss opportunities to locally produce green methanol. Methanex Egypt is 50% owned by Methanex Corp, while Egyptian state institutions hold 33% and Saudi-based Apicorp owns the remaining 17%.

The nitty gritty: Methanex will make the purchase by paying USD 1.15 bn in cash, in addition to the issuance of 9.9 mn of its shares valued at USD 450 mn, giving OCI a c. 13% ownership of the company to make it the second largest shareholder. The share purchase aims to help the firms improve their joint operations, as well as consider potential further investments in the methanol industry cycle.

That’s not all: The sale also includes OCI’s 50% stake in Natgasoline — a JV with Proman — which is subject to the settling of an ongoing lawsuit. The Natgasoline facility in Beaumont, Texas has an annual capacity of 1.7 million tons of methanol, of which Methanex’s share will be 850,000 tons.

All for the green: OCI has been restructuring and selling its assets to cut down on debt, returning capital to shareholders, and dedicating raised funds to greener chemicals such as low-carbon ammonia, according to Reuters. OCI’s divestitures as of late have generated around USD 11.6 bn of expected tax-free gross proceeds, CFO Hassan Badrawi said.

REMEMBER- Sawiris has big restructuring plans for OCI: Egyptian b’naire Nassef Sawiris — who owns a nearly 40% stake in the firm — said he was considering overhauling OCI GlobaI in February, with one of the options being turning the empire into a cash-shell company pursuing acquisitions in new industries. The company sold its blue ammonia project in Texas to Woodside for USD 2.35 bn in August and sold its 50% +1 stake in Fertiglobe to Adnoc for AED 13.28 bn (USD 3.62 bn) last December, with the acquisition expected to close later this year. OCI also sold 100% of its USD 3.6 bn stake in the US crop nutrient unit Iowa Fertilizers to US’ Koch Ag & Energy Solutions in the same month.

Tags: