BASF exits JV with Avantium, disrupting the once-promising PEF space

January 17, 2019 | Case Study

In December 2018, BASF announced it would be exiting its joint venture with Avantium, Synvina, targeting the first commercial production facility for furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). A year prior, Avantium announced a two-year to three-year delay for Synvina's FDCA plant, kindling a dispute between the two companies over the joint venture's future. While BASF notified Avantium that it was entitled to exit the joint venture if the investment criteria for the reference plant were not fulfilled, Avantium argued that the two-to-three-year extension necessitated a postponed assessment. The move by BASF came as a surprise to Avantium, as it maintains that Synvina was ahead of the timeline for resolving the technical challenges leading to the postponement.