Perstorp divests biodiesel-glycerine assets in Norway

Perstorp, Swedish speciality chemicals firm, has announced the sale of Perstorp BioProducts, a producer of biodiesel and glycerine in Scandinavia, to a Swedish investor together with a member of the subsidiary’s management team. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The sale includes a production site in Fredrikstad, Norway, while another production site in Stenungsund, Sweden, will remain with Perstorp. Perstorp will also, for a limited time, be a minority owner of the new company, Adesso BioProducts AB. The 20 staff employed at Perstorp BioProducts, mostly in Fredrikstad, have been offered to continue their employment with Adesso BioProducts.

A tolling agreement forms a part of the sale, whereby Perstorp will continue to produce biodiesel at Stenungsund for Adesso BioProducts. In the long term, Adesso might relocate production and Perstorp may look to repurpose this site for other speciality chemical products.

Explaining the rationale behind the move, Mr. Jan Secher, President and CEO of Perstorp, said, “Adesso BioProducts is one of the leading suppliers of biofuels in Scandinavia and we see great potential for the business under its new ownership. For Perstorp, the sale is in line with our strategy to focus on high growth areas in the speciality chemicals market and build on our position as a global leader in the field.”

Mr. Lars Lind, CEO of Adesso Bio-Products AB commented, “With the rapidly increasing focus on the decarbonisation of the transportation sector, demand for biofuels and bio-based fuel components will see continued strong growth and provides us with a great potential to expand. Aside from the development of the existing biofuel portfolio, we see an interesting opportunity in biocomponents suitable for advanced biofuels, carbon-free aviation and bio-based chemicals.”