Lucite, the maker of acrylic products ranging from bus shelters to McDonald’s golden arches, has received two $2bn (£1.1bn)-plus takeover approaches from Japan and Saudi Arabia seeking to pre-empt next month’s opening of its $500m (£282m) plant in Singapore.

The Southampton-based company, owned since 1999 by UK private equity group Charterhouse Capital Partners, has opened its books to Japanese rival Mitsubishi Rayon and a Saudi consortium of rich investors and Saudi International Petrochemical Company, Sipchem.