For its U.S. chemical assets, which may fetch up to $8 billion, oil giant Shell (SHEL.L) has attracted attention from prospective bidders, including ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and LyondellBasell (LYB.N), the Financial Times reported on Monday.
According to the report, which cited people familiar with the situation, private equity firm Apollo Global Management (APO.N) has opened a new tab and the chemicals division of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has also expressed interest in the assets as Shell looks to sell off underperforming chemical plants.
Reuters’ inquiries for comment outside of usual business hours were not immediately answered by Shell, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Apollo, and Kuwait Petroleum.
According to the FT, Shell’s U.S. chemicals business consists of four operations in Louisiana, Texas, and Pennsylvania that make chemicals used in plastics, detergents, and pharmaceuticals.
According to the publication, prospective purchasers made non-binding offers last month that ranged from suggestions for the entire company to those for just areas of it.
According to the FT, the quoted price is significantly less than the capital Shell has put into the facilities.
As the British energy giant continues to reduce its low-carbon investments and concentrate more on upstream operations and trading, Shell agreed earlier this month to sell its onshore renewable power business in Europe to TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA).
