HPL ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN ‘LUMMUS TECHNOLOGY’ – A GLOBAL LEADER IN MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY

Date : 01-07-2020

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Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL), a flagship company of The Chatterjee Group (TCG) having its manufacturing facility at Haldia, West Bengal, along with an international partner Rhone Capital, has acquired the US based Lummus Technology at an Enterprise Value (EV) of $ 2.725 Billion (approximately  Rs. 20,590 crores) from McDermott International on the 30^th of June, 2020.

With a heritage spanning 110 years, Lummus Technology is a leading master licensor of proprietary technologies in refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and coal gasification sectors, as well as a supplier of proprietary catalysts, equipment and related engineering services. Lummus Technology has around 130 licensed technologies and more than 3400 patents and trademarks.

The Chatterjee Group (TCG), with its Head Quarters in USA, has controlling stake in Haldia Petrochemicals Limited. The Group has an impressive track record as a strategic investor, with businesses spanning many sectors across geographies. Founded by Dr. Purnendu Chatterjee in mid 1980s, the Group has all along had overriding focus on investments in ‘knowledge based industries’. TCG owns and controls companies as ‘long-term investments’ in the following sectors: Petrochemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech, Financial Services, Real Estate and Technology, serving global markets.

Rhone Capital, established in 1996, having offices in London and New York, is a global private equity firm, which specializes in investments in market leading businesses and has a pan-European and trans-Atlantic presence. The Company has stake in a diversified portfolio of companies in chemicals, consumer products, food, industrial materials, mining and shipping industries.  

Highlights of the Deal:

• This landmark development would significantly accelerate India’s progress towards ‘Self Reliance’ in materials technology space.
• Lummus Technology under the new dispensation would function as a ‘standalone’ autonomous entity and would have required flexibility and agility to further develop its core competencies.
• HPL, with its two decades of rich experience in manufacturing ‘best in class’ polymer products and downstream chemicals would partner with Lummus in evolving technological improvements for these segments.
• Lummus and HPL together would be in a position to provide a more compelling ‘value proposition’ to the clients of Lummus in India and abroad.
• HPL’s policy initiative to pivot upstream investments in ‘Oil to Chemical’ sector is likely to receive a major boost as a result of association with Lummus.

Welcoming this development, Mr. Leon de Bruyn, Head Lummus Technology, said “For our customers, employees and partners this is an important milestone. We would be able to focus exclusively on providing world class technologies and solutions and developing long term strategies that will allow Lummus to lead and shape the future of our industry”.

Dr. Purnendu Chatterjee, founder Chairman of TCG iterated “our investments are both strategic and long term, most of which span across 25 to 30 years. We have primarily focused on knowledge based enterprises, and as such Lummus is a great addition to our portfolio. Leading with innovation, it delivers sustainable value to clients in the areas of materials technology. HPL being a long term client of Lummus can share its customer experience and collaborate with Lummus to co-create innovations for the benefit of the industry.” 

Mr. Rajnish Kumar, Chairman SBI, the lead banker in the deal, mentioned “Acquisition of Lummus, world’s premier Petrochemicals Company by Haldia Petrochemicals is a landmark achievement by an Indian company. I hope this acquisition will go a long way in furthering India’s strong footprint in technology space and support India’s mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat. State Bank of India is happy to be associated with this prestigious acquisition.”

Mr. Subhasendu Chatterjee, Whole Time Director, HPL said “it is indeed a proud privilege for HPL to be associated with Lummus Technology, the prestigious licensor of several proprietary technologies in the refining, petrochemicals and gas processing segments.  We look forward to the exciting prospect of working with Lummus to foster innovations aimed at technological sophistication and enhanced investor satisfaction.”

Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL)

Kolkata.