MOL Group completes acquisition of Aurora Group, strengthening position in recycled, sustainable plastics compounding segment
Budapest, 11 November, 2019 – Following satisfaction of customary transaction approvals, MOL Group announce that effective 31 October 2019, it has acquired 100% shareholding in Aurora, a German plastic compounder company. As a result of the acquisition, MOL Group is strengthening its position in recycled, sustainable compounding segment and in the automotive supplier industry.
MOL Group is a well-established virgin polymer supplier, continuously looking for opportunities to extend its petrochemical value chain towards higher added-value products. To reach this goal, MOL aims to widen the synergies with its current polymers product portfolio via both organic and inorganic developments, to gain expertise and high-end capabilities in both virgin-based and recycled plastic compounding. With the acquisition of Aurora, MOL Group is further expanding its product portfolio with Aurora’s excellence in engineering plastics and polypropylene recyclate-based compounds.
Aurora with its innovative products and business model are greatly complementing MOL Group’s current petrochemical portfolio and also contributes to its sustainability objectives. Aurora, with production plants located nearby automotive manufacturing and plastics conversion clusters in Baden-Württemberg, Germany has a unique and lean closed-loop business model. Aurora collects the industrial plastic waste, recycles it and then upgrades the properties of the material into an enhanced plastic that suits the requirements of the customers in the car manufacturing industry. By combining MOL Group’s experience and Aurora’s exceptional know-how, the long-term objective is to accelerate further market growth while relieving the burden on the environment.
The acquisition is another important milestone in MOL Group’s transformational journey to become the leading chemical player in CEE, after the partnering with German APK in plastic recycling. With Aurora in the portfolio MOL Group can increase its footprint in the automotive, a strategic segment for MOL, while addressing the increasing needs of its customers towards more sustainable products.
“The recyclate-based products of Aurora greatly complement our current product line, underlining our increasing efforts towards sustainable development. As we strive to strengthen MOL Group’s presence as an automotive supplier, we recognized compounding as a key activity which we want to integrate in our business portfolio.” – said Ferenc Horváth, Executive Vice President of MOL Group Downstream.
Leading ESG (environmental, social and governance) rating agencies, including Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (where MOL is the only emerging European member), MSCI and Sustainalytics have confirmed MOL’s efforts in the area of sustainability and the transition to a low-carbon economy.
About MOL Group
MOL Group is an integrated, international oil and gas company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It is active in over 40 countries with a dynamic international workforce of 25,000 people and a track record of more than 100 years in the industry. MOL’s exploration and production activities are supported by more than 75 years’ experience in the hydrocarbon field. At the moment, there are production activities in 8 countries and exploration assets in 13 countries. MOL Group operates four refineries and two petrochemical plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia, and owns a network of 2,000 service stations across 10 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe.
