Mady said, "The acquisition of Huntsman's UK/European business is a major addition to the SABIC Europe group of companies and to SABIC's business overall. This deal demonstrates our commitment to growing the SABIC business and the success of our globalization strategy." He continued, "We have achieved substantial growth in Europe in recent years, following the successful integration of DSM's petrochemical business in 2002. The businesses we are acquiring at Wilton and North Tees add additional talented employees and offer further high quality production platforms to achieve our next stage of growth, and will add to our other sites in Europe in Geleen, Holland and Gelsenkirchen, Germany." "We are fully committed to realizing the full potential of these businesses and therefore we intend to invest and grow the business in the future, including the continued construction of the new polyethylene plant." Subject to the usual regulatory approvals, including merger control and UK Pension Regulator clearance, the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2006.
