REGAIN Polymers sold to European mineral multinational

West Yorkshire-based plastics reprocessor REGAIN Polymers has been sold to Imerys Group, a multinational supplier of mineral-based solutions based in Paris.

The group has purchased the company from European asset manager Aurelius Equity Opportunities for an undisclosed sum.

REGAIN Polymers was formed in 1991 and took on its current name in 2011 following an acquisition by Chamonix Private Equity. It was acquired by the Aurelius Group in 2015.

Last year the company entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors to settle debt and enable it to avoid administration.

The company operates a 50,000-tonne facility at its Allerton Bywater headquarters in Castleford, where it reprocesses rigid plastic waste into products for customers in the automotive, environmental, garden, packaging and construction sectors, with a product range including high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), talc-filled polypropylene (PPT) and polystyrene (PS).

Imerys has more than 250 industrial locations in 50 countries around the world, with a revenue of €4.2 billion (£3.8 billion) and around 16,000 employees.

The group says that the acquisition means that it will be able to expand its Performance Additives Division, which develops high-quality products from recycled polymers.

This marks the second sale of a British plastics reprocessor by Aurelius in the space of a year.

The investment firm sold Evolve Polymers, formerly ECO Plastics, to US-based Plastipak Packaging in November 2016, again for an undisclosed fee. At the time, just ten months ago, Aurelius said the sale would enable it to ‘concentrate all its activities in the field of plastic recycling at its REGAIN Polymers subsidiary’.

More information about REGAIN Polymers can be found on the company’s website.