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Blackstone in talks to buy plastics firm

By George Chen and Alison Tudor (Reuters)
Updated: 2007-04-05 11:03

The source expected that the deal could be worth 10s of millions of dollars, including a proposed joint venture to make biofuel-related products, if it goes ahead.

Blackstone declined comment, while officials at Guofeng were not immediately available for comment.

Guofeng Group, established in 1984, has total assets of over 5 billion yuan (US$646.6 million) and more than 5,000 staff. The company plans to grow into biofuel areas including biodiesel, according to its company Web site (www.guofeng.com).

Shanghai-listed shares in Guotong Tube, which is controlled by Guofeng Group, closed 6.18 percent higher at 10.14 yuan, while Guofeng Plastic was suspended for trade on Wednesday.

Industry-wide Asian private equity funds under management rose by 30 percent to $158 billion last year, with new funds raised for the region up by 35 percent to $32 billion, according to the AsianVenture CapitalJournal.

In October Guofeng was selected to provide plastic tubing material for the construction of stadiums to be used for theBeijingOlympics 2008, the company said on its Web site.