Chicago Nabs BP Spinoff

See Crain's Chicago Business Article below.The best part of the deal: absolutely no financial incentives from the city or state. City lands HQ of new BP petro biz By Julie Johnsson October 29, 2004 Coming full circle, BP plc plans to base the new headquarters of a $13-billion petrochemical spin-off in ChicagoÂ's Aon Center, which once housed world operations for Amoco Corp. With todayÂ's announcement, Chicago will gain a Fortune 200 company with a headquarters staff of 125 and an oil-industry leader that the city has lacked since London-based BP purchased Amoco in 1998. BP plans to spin off the subsidiary, which derives plastics and other products from oil, to investors in a mid-2005 initial public offering, a spokesman says. Â"WeÂ'll be a global company in a city thatÂ's a true global leader,Â" said Ralph Alexander, a BP veteran who will be CEO of the, as yet, unnamed company. It will employ another 200 workers in DuPage County and have 7,000 total employees in 27 countries. The City of Chicago didnÂ't provide any tax incentives for the headquarters move, Mr. Alexander said at a press conference Friday morning. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley welcomed todayÂ's news, which comes as the city has lost many of its largest and best-known companies to mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcy. Among the biggest: Bank One Corp., Amoco, Ameritech and Montgomery Ward. Â"WeÂ're the best city in the nation for headquarters and thank God (BP) agreed with us,Â" said Mayor Daley. News of the new headquarters follows BP's announcement in April that it would consolidate its Olefins and Derivatives business, which has been struggling financially. At the time, BP said some of the employees working at its North American chemicals headquarters in Naperville and Warrenville would be transfered to the spinoff (ChicagoBusiness.com, April 27).>