KEY POINTS
- ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Apollo and Kuwait Petroleum are among suitors for Shell’s US chemical assets, the FT said.
- The assets, at four US sites, could fetch up to $8 billion, a steep discount to Shell’s investment.
- The sale fits Shell’s retreat from lower-margin and low-carbon businesses toward upstream and trading.
Shell has attracted potential bidders for its US chemical assets, which could fetch up to $8 billion, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
According to the FT, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell are among the suitors, alongside the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and the chemicals arm of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Moreover, the interest comes as Shell moves to shed underperforming chemical plants.
What is up for sale
The business spans four sites in Louisiana, Texas and Pennsylvania, and the plants make chemicals used in plastics, detergents and pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, the FT said potential buyers filed non-binding offers last month, with bids ranging from the whole unit to parts of it.
Still, the numbers look modest against Shell’s spending. According to the newspaper, the reported price marks a steep discount to the capital Shell has poured into the facilities. However, Shell, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Apollo and Kuwait Petroleum did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside business hours.
Part of a wider retreat
The potential sale fits Shell’s broader push to slim its portfolio. Consequently, the company has been trimming lower-margin and low-carbon operations to focus on upstream oil and gas and on trading, where it sees stronger returns. That strategy has reshaped the group over the past year.
Earlier this month, Shell agreed to sell its onshore renewables power business in Europe to TotalEnergies, a deal that underscored the same approach. Therefore, a disposal of the US chemicals unit would extend that shift, letting Shell redeploy capital toward the operations it now treats as core. In addition, any final agreement would still hinge on price, since the offers fall well short of what Shell has spent on the plants.
