MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemicals company Lanxess is expanding its Additives segment and plans to acquire the phosphorus chemicals business with a US production site from Belgian chemical group Solvay, said the company on its site.
Both companies have signed an agreement to this effect.
The transaction is projected to conclude in the first half of 2018, subject to customary regulatory approvals. The acquisition fully complements Lanxess' strategy to grow its business in mid-sized markets and in the regions North America and Asia.
The site in Charleston, South Carolina, includes six production units, where roughly 90 employees manufacture phosphorus chloride plus numerous derivative products such as flame-retardants and intermediates for the agrochemical industry. The business represents annual sales of around EUR 65 million.
"With this acquisition, we are benefitting from a North American platform for phosphorus-based specialty chemicals - a key component of our additive business - and are able to further drive our growth in this key region," said Anno Borkowsky, General Manager of the Additives business unit at Lanxess.
With annual sales of around EUR 2 billion and roughly 2,000 employees around the globe, the additives business is an important pillar of the Lanxess group.
As MRC reported earlier, following the completion of the acquisition of US chemical company Chemtura at the end of April 2017, specialty chemicals company Lanxess has subsequently adjusted its group structure. In September 2017, Lanxess reported on five segments comprising a total of twelve business units. Thus, flame retardant and lubricant additives are the two main pillars of Chemtura’s business and they now complement the current Lanxess portfolio combined in a new “Additives” business unit. These two business activities are integrated with Lanxess’s 'Rhein Chemie” business unit to form a new segment - 'Specialty Additives'.
Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 7.7 billion in 2016 and about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC