Tokyo, March 14, 2005: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (President: Chihiro Kanagawa) and UNITIKA LTD. (President: Otofumi Onishi) announced an agreement under which Shin-Etsu will acquire the total shares held by UNITIKA of JAPAN VAM & POVAL Co., Ltd. (President: Hirokazu Okamoto). As of March 31, 2005, JAPAN VAM & POVAL (JVP) will become a wholly owned Shin-Etsu Group company.
Shin-Etsu Chemical has been jointly managing JVP with UNITIKA as a 50/50 joint venture. JVP manufactures and sells vinyl acetate monomer and POVAL (polyvinyl alcohol).* Shin-Etsu Chemical will acquire 2,750,000 shares of JAPAN VAM & POVAL from UNITIKA, which are worth about 7 billion yen.
By integrating JVP as a 100%-owned Shin-Etsu Group company, Shin-Etsu Chemical aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the business management of JVP and better position the company to take a key role in Shin-Etsu Chemical's synthetic organic chemicals business, leading to its expansion. In the future, JVP, as, a 100%-owned Shin-Etsu Group company, will strive to strengthen its profitability by further improving the company's production technologies, product development power and sales capabilities, all of which the company has been actively nurturing.
Company Outline (as of March 14, 2005)
- Company name: JAPAN VAM & POVAL Co., Ltd.
- Head Office, Plant: Sakai City, Osaka
- Representative: President Hirokazu Okamoto
- Establishment: May 1, 2002 (The company was formed through an integration of Shin-Etsu Vinyl Acetate Co., Ltd. and UNITIKA CHEMICAL CO., LTD. , established in December 1968,)
- Business: Manufacturing and sales of vinyl esters of carboxylic acids such as vinyl acetate monomer and polyvinyl alcohol (POVAL).
- Fiscal Year: April 1 through March 31
- Capital: 2 billion yen
- Annual Sales: about 12 billion yen.
*POVAL is the trade name for polyvinyl alcohol. It is a water-soluble polymer and is used in such applications as a processing agent for textiles and paper, adhesives , film, and material for safety glass interlayer film.
Tokyo March 14, 2005
|
