Corpus Christi Polymers LLC, a newly formed company, has entered into an agreement to purchase the M&G USA Corp., a partially completed plastics manufacturing plant known as Project Jumbo in Corpus Christi. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October, company officials claimed the $1.1 billion dollar plant was 85 percent complete. With $500 million in liabilities, it said another $505 million would be needed to finish construction.
M&G USA Corps. is owned by parent company Mossi Ghisolfi Group of Italy, which also filed for bankruptcy in October.
Corpus Christi Polymers bid $1.25 billion in cash, along with other capital contributions not detailed. The newly formed company is made up of three entities: Alpek S.A.B. de C.V., a Mexican chemical manufacturing company; Indorama Ventures Holdings LP, a Bangkok-based materials company; and Far Eastern Investment Holding Limited.
The three partners will produce raw materials independently and receive one-third of the capacity of its PET and PTA products.
The pending sale, which must receive approval from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, is good new for the Corpus Christi economy. Once operational, the plant means permanent jobs and more business for the Port of Corpus Christi. As the biggest facility of its kind in the world, the plant is expected to produce around 1.1 million metric tons of purified terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate, polymers used in the production of plastic and polyester products.
While the sale is pending, 38 employees will remain at work on the site as per an agreement with the bankruptcy court last December.