Polyethylene terephthalate producers Indorama Ventures and DAK Americas as well as an affiliate of a Houston private equity firm have submitted winning bankruptcy auction bids to buy some of a California recycled PET producer's recycling facilities, according to court filings.
Thailand-based Indorama, the world's largest virgin PET producer, confirmed its bid for CarbonLite's Texas assets in a statement issued May 27, noting the purchase would bring Indorama closer to its goal of producing 750,000 mt/year of recycled PET by 2025.
CarbonLite filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware in March, and virtual auctions were held for some of its assets in May.
Indorama's $63.87 million bid for CarbonLite's Dallas rPET facility was deemed successful during a May 24 auction, according to court filings. Indorama said the facility has a combined capacity of 92,000 mt/year, which includes 48,000 mt/year of rPET pellets and 44,000 mt/year of rPET flakes.
DAK Americas, a subsidiary of Mexico-based PET producer Alpek, submitted a successful bid of $98.1 million for CarbonLite's rPET operations in Reading, Pennsylvania, also at a May 24 auction, filings said.
And TSG Shelf II Acquisition LLC, affiliated with Houston private equity firm The Sterling Group, submitted a successful $57.5 million bid for CarbonLite's Riverside, California rPET facilities. Its auction was rescheduled to June 2 from May 26 to allow more time for objections to be filed.
TSG Shelf also was the backup bidder for the Texas and Pennsylvania facilities should bids from Indorama and DAK Americas fall through.
A bankruptcy judge was slated to consider all three bids for approval at a virtual June 3 hearing, filings said.
Indorama has been buying recycling facilities to increase its rPET offerings as customers seek to increase rPET content in their bottles. DAK Americas has employed similar efforts to help customers meet rPET goals as well.
"I'm pleased with the way it went down," a US West Coast rPET market source said. "There has been a certain amount of market consolidation lately so the fact that different companies bought up the facilities is a step in the right direction."
