United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced on March 4 that it has entered into a binding framework agreement with Austrian Oil and Gas Company (OMV) to merge Bolu and Borealis to form Bolu International Group (BGI), creating a global polyolefin leader worth more than US $60 billion.
In addition, ADNOC has entered into a share purchase agreement with Nova Chemicals Holdings GmbH to acquire 100 per cent of Nova Chemical. Nova is a leading polyethylene producer in North America with a polyethylene capacity of 2.6 million tons and ethylene capacity of 4.2 million tons.
With the agreement of ADNOC and OMV, Borough International Group would acquire Nova for $13.4 billion (including debt). Together with the redistribution of the Bolu-4 project, it will become the fourth largest polyolefin producer in the world with an annual capacity of 13.6 million tons.
Under the terms of the agreement, Adnoc and OMV will each hold a 46.94% stake in Borouge Group International, for which OMV intends to inject $1.6 billion in cash into the combined entity to achieve equity parity. The remaining 6.12% of Borouge Group International Group is free float.
Borouge Group International plans to locate its headquarters in Austria and its regional headquarters in United Arab Emirates. In addition, it will retain key corporate centres in Calgary, Pittsburgh and Singapore and will be listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX).
In July 2023, ADNOC began discussions with OMV on the merger of Borouge amd Borealis AG. According to the plan, the merger of Borouge and Borealis, as well as the acquisition of Nova, is currently expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.