Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Ineos Bamble, formerly Borealis (aquired by Ineos in October 2007), announced the closure of one of the two plants in Bamble with the loss of 150 jobs by the end of 2008. The factory to be closed produces polyethylene and polypropylene. Over eleven years the number of employees has been reduced from 650 to the current 250. The reason for this closure is attributed to insufficient profitability and high transport costs. The group announced that it will concentrate production at its plant in Belgium. Management at Bamble said that one of the two factories is likely to continue being operational while the closing factory may be taken over by another company. The decision was confirmed by the Board held on 7th of May, against the votes of the employee representatives. Negotiations between the management and unions will decide the extent of the downsizing and the number of dismissals. The largest union, Industri Energi, demands a meeting with the Minister of Trade and Industry and the management to find alternative solutions. Union representatives within the petrochemical industry in Grenland district demands investments from the state to finance a gas pipeline from the North Sea that will create employment in the region.
Eurofound (2008), Ineos, Internal restructuring in Norway, factsheet number 66598, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/66598.