Mexican plastic pipe maker Mexichem yesterday said that it has made an indicative non-binding proposal to buy its European rival Wavin N V, in a deal that would value the Dutch company at about €430 million ($580 million).

Mexichem, a leading plastic pipe maker Latin America has made a cash offer of €8.50 per share for all of Wavin's ordinary shares and the proposed deal, if materializes, would make it the world's biggest plastic pipe maker.

''The combination of Wavin and Mexichem leads to the creation of the global market leader in plastic pipe systems with total sales of around 4.01 billion euros and is well positioned for further growth in Europe and potential new markets," Mexichem said in a statement.

Mexichem, which has engaged Barclays Capital and Citigroup as its financial advisors and Allen & Overy as legal counsel, said that it has invited the supervisory board of Wavin to enter into discussions to evaluate a possible combination between the two companies.

Based near Mexico City, Mexichem is the biggest chemical company in Mexico and one of the largest in Latin America. The company operates in North, Central and South America, Europe and Asia and exports its products to more than 50 countries.

The company has more than 10,000 employees and had 2010 sales of more than $3 billion. The company expects to more than double its revenues to nearly $7 billion in the next four years mainly through acquisitions.

Last year, Mexichem acquired AlphaGary, a thermoplastic compounds operator, Policyd SA and plastic tube maker Plasticos Rex SA.

Zwolle, Netherlands-based Wavin, which has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch as financial advisor and Stibbe as legal counsel, said in a statement, ''The management board and the supervisory board will carefully consider the indicative non-binding proposal and explore the rationale.''

Founded in 1955, Wavin is the leading supplier of plastic pipe systems and solutions in Europe.

Wavin has offices in 26 European countries with manufacturing plants in 16 of those. It has a strong presence in the growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe and its products are also available in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and North America.

The New York and Amsterdam stock exchanges listed company, reported net profit of €7.1 million on revenue of €1.2 billion last year.