MOUNT OLIVE, NJ - BASF has completed its acquisition of Sunoco Inc.'s phthalate plasticizer business, a purchase that includes Sunoco's Pasadena, TX, site, its phthalic anhydride and oxo alcohol manufacturing plants, and the phthalate esters, 2-ethylhexanol, and phthalic anhydride businesses.

BASF said the purchase price was $91 million; the unit had sales of approximately $150 million in 2002. Sunoco's Neville Island, PA, site is not being acquired but will manufacture plasticizers for BASF under a tolling agreement.

BASF currently operates a plasticizer-manufacturing site in Cornwall, Ontario, and has a manufacturing and marketing agreement with Sterling Chemical in Texas City, TX. The company said the Sunoco acquisition provides it with a broader line of linear and branched plasticizer products and supply-chain efficiencies.