ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell said to be among suitors for Shell's US chemical assets

(Sharecast News) - Shell has reportedly drawn interest from potential bidders including ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell for its US chemicals assets. According to the Financial Times, Shell's US chemicals plants - which are located across four sites in Louisiana, Texas and Pennsylvania and produce a wide range of chemicals for use in plastics, detergents and pharmaceuticals - could fetch as much as $8bn.

The sites include the vast Monaca, Pennsylvania, complex, which started operations in 2022 and in which Shell has invested $14bn of capital, and which produces up to 1.6mn tonnes of polymers a year.

Bidders including Exxon, Lyondell, private equity group Apollo and the chemicals arm of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation have expressed interest in the assets, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

It was understood that the interested parties submitted non-binding indicative offers for the assets last month, with the approaches including proposed acquisitions of both the whole business and parts of it. Sources added that there was no guarantee the sale process would result in a transaction.

The FT said the $8bn price tag would represent a steep discount to the amount of capital Shell has invested in its US chemical facilities. The energy major is also working with advisers to market its chemical assets in Europe, although those are likely to be worth far less, according to some of the FT's sources.