Ube Industries to split off SR business; says low demand weakened profitability

Ube Industries to split off SR business; says low demand weakened profitabilityJapanese chemical company Ube Industries will split off its synthetic rubber business in a company split (simplified incorporation-type split) by establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary, Ube Industries, Ltd, that will succeed in the synthetic rubber business. The company split will take effect on October 1, 2021. Because the company split will be a simplified incorporation-type split by Ube, certain details are not required to be disclosed and therefore are not included below.

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Ube manufactures and supplies synthetic rubber products from four production bases in Thailand, China, and Malaysia in addition to Chiba, Japan to a global customer base. The Tokyo-headquartered company has operated the synthetic rubber business for 50 years now since it started manufacturing synthetic rubber at the Chiba Petrochemical Factory. The lower demand and greater supply of synthetic rubber in recent years have impacted profitability. For this reason, Ube has decided to split off the business into a separate business entity that will independently operate the synthetic rubber business, including related research and development, manufacturing, and marketing