MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, has been acquired by Platinum Equity from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and BASF in a transaction worth USD5.25 billion, according to PaperFirst.
Both CD&R and BASF have fully exited Solenis.
In addition, as part of the acquisition, Solenis has merged with Sigura Water, an existing Platinum Equity portfolio company, for a total combined transaction value of approximately USD6.5 billion. The combined company generates approximately USD3.5 billion of revenue.
Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Solenis supplies innovative specialty chemicals and services for process, functional and water treatment applications in two primary segments: Consumer Solutions (consumer and food packaging, graphic paper and tissue and towel markets) and Industrial Solutions (core water treatment and wastewater markets). Founded in 1907, its service-intensive business model relies on more than 1,300 highly trained sales technicians operating on-site at customer locations around the world.
The divestment of Solenis shares was initially announced in July and will be reflected in BASF’s financial reporting in the fourth quarter of 2021, as net income from shareholdings. BASF held 49% of shares in Solenis and accounted for its share in the company through equity, while the remaining majority share was held by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Solenis management.
As MRC reported earlier, BASF is strengthening its global catalyst development and helping customers to bring new products faster to the market. As part of this strategy, BASF is building a new pilot plant center at its Ludwigshafen site. The new Catalyst Development and Solids Processing Center will serve as a global hub for pilot-scale production and process innovations of chemical catalysts. The new building is scheduled for completion by mid-2024.
We remind that BASF aims is to electrify its production processes for basic chemicals, which are currently based on fossil fuels.
We also remind that in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted earlier that month due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other"s capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,868,160 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 18% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,138,510 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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