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Ineos is a privately owned UK chemicals company. By revenue it is the third largest chemicals firm in the world (after BASF and Dow Chemical) and the biggest privately owned company in Britain.[1] Its headquarters are located in the small village of Lyndhurst in Hampshire, England. Chairman and main shareholder Jim Ratcliffe was tenth on the Sunday Times Rich List 2007, with an estimated wealth of £3.3 billion. Sunday Times Rich List 2008 revalued Jim Ratcliffe to £2.3 billion. Ineos was formed in 1997 to effect a management buyout of the former BP petrochemicals assets in Antwerp, Belgium.[2] Since then, it has expanded by purchasing several other businesses. Several of its divisions formerly belonged to BP, and others have been divested by large companies such as Amoco, BASF, ICI, Dow Chemical, Solvay and UCB, as they have looked to focus more closely on their main product lines. In October 2005 Ineos agreed to purchase Innovene, BP’s olefins and derivatives and refining subsidiary, which had an estimated 2005 turnover of US$25 billion, for $9 billion.[3] The deal, which was completed on 14 December 2005, roughly quadrupled Ineos's turnover, which was previously around $8 billion. Ineos reportedly prefers to run operations with minimal on-site management, the concept that "work teams" are better suited for handling of the workflow day to day, without middle-management.[4] In 2007 Ineos formed a joined venture with Lanxess and created Ineos ABS, comprising Lanxess's activities in Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene production, located in Tarragona. Ineos paid €35 million in a first tranche.[5]
[edit] FinancialsSince Ineos bought the Innovene business from BP in 2005, the Group has grown from revenues of €22 billion to €31 billion. It has repaid €1 billion of debt and reduced working capital by €550 million. It has also cut fixed costs by €700 million of which €140 million was achieved in the nine months ended 30 September 2008. All businesses are now well positioned to be profitable at the bottom of the cycle. Many of these have market-leading positions in a wide variety of petrochemical and speciality chemical products, with 73% of chemicals assets situated in the first two cost quartiles. [edit] Industrial relationsThe company has been accused by some sources of buying assets then cutting costs through the introduction of new working practices, lower wages, and terminating pension schemes.[6] As of late April 2008 Ineos was at the centre of an industrial relations dispute with the Unite the Union over pension policies affecting the workforce at its Grangemouth Refinery. The company had taken the decision to close the company's final salary pension scheme to new employees, which it is estimated would only have cost £16 million per year to continue, its human resources manager Ian Fyfe stating that the company could not afford it, despite the Grangemouth facility making up to £3 million per day in profit. It is also claimed by Unite that workers at Grangemouth are paid £6,000 less than workers at other similar facilities.[6] Ineos has been accused by Unite of "economic terrorism".[7] [edit] Notes
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