Reliance acquires Germany's leading polyester producer

Thursday, 24 June 2004, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd., the largest private sector diversified business conglomerate in India, Thursday announced the acquisition of a leading polyester producer in Germany as part of its global expansion plans. The buying of Frankfurt-based Trevira GmbH, an erstwhile division of the German giant Hoechst AG, gives Reliance an opportunity to capture the growth potential in Eastern Europe, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries. "It also gives us the opportunity to bring many of its valuable speciality polyester products to the Asian textile industry," Ambani told a shareholders' meeting. He said the Trevira acquisition, along with the capacity addition, would give Reliance 1.8 million tons per year of manufacturing capacity. Trevira operates polyester plants in Germany, Belgium and Denmark. "It will make Reliance the largest polyester fibre and yarn player in the world. Reliance will thus come from nowhere to lead the world of polyester in just 22 years," said Ambani. Over the next 10 years, Reliance plans to invest "significant amounts of money" in polyester research and development to sustain global leadership by building an intellectual property portfolio and developing new products. "In this endeavour, Reliance will have access to the research knowledge base, patents and ongoing projects of both Trevira and Dupont, with whom Reliance has an alliance," the chairman added. Reliance, which has interests in a wide spectrum of sectors such as petrochemicals, refinery, communications and power, became the first Indian private sector company to register over $1 billion in net profit in the year ended March 31, 2004.
Source: IANS
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