By Frank Esposito
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Published: October 21, 2014 4:19 pm ET
Updated: October 21, 2014 4:21 pm ET

Plastic sheet leader Klöckner Pentaplast Group is no longer for sale, according to an Oct. 21 Reuters article.

Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm Strategic Value Partners canceled plans to sell Klöckner Pentaplast after bids came in “well below” the firm’s asking price of $1.9 billion, according to the article. SVP had acquired Montbaur, Germany-based Klöckner Pentaplast for $1.3 billion in debt and equity in 2012.

North American compounding leader PolyOne Corp. was said to be a bidder for Klöckner in an Oct. 16 Reuters article. But a company spokesman said later that same day that the Avon Lake, Ohio-based firm “is not bidding on Klöckner Pentaplast.”

PolyOne entered the sheet market when it bought Spartech Corp. for almost $400 million in early 2013.

Private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC, Ares Management LP and Platinum Equity LLC also had been mentioned as potential buyers of Klöckner, which has annual sales of $1.6 billion in a wide variety of film and sheet products.

One market source said that overall profitability in the commodity sheet market has been affected by producers’ inability to pass on higher resin prices to their own customers. This situation might be limiting SVP’s ability to get a higher price for Klöckner, the source said.

Klöckner’s 2013 North American sales were estimated at $610 million, ranking 13th among the region’s film and sheet makers, according to a Plastics News estimate. The firm operates seven North American plants that employ 1,100.