M&A WATCH- Thailand’s Indorama to acquire for 50% stake in EIPET from India’s Dhunseri: Indorama Netherlands BV, an indirect subsidiary of Thailand’s Indorama Ventures, signed on Thursday an agreement with India’s Dhunseri Petrochem to acquire a chunk of the Egyptian Indian Polyester Company’s (EIPET) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Ain Sokhna. The facility has an annual manufacturing capacity of 540k tonnes, according to a release (pdf). The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

The agreement, which came into immediate effect, also saw Indorama acquire 50% of EIPET’s equity and enter a 50% JV partnership with Dhunseri, Indorama said in a statement to the Thai stock exchange (pdf). The JV will focus on the domestic “consumer beverage industry and increase[d] demand for sustainable packaging,” and will be the biggest such project in the EMEA region, according to Indorama.

Background: Dhunseri had bought out the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company’s (ECHEM) 23% share in EIPET last month. The Indian company is planning to invest USD 225 mn in EIPET and begin operating one production line in August of this year.