MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the German chemicals giant, and Archroma have agreed on the sale of BASF’s global textile chemicals business to Archroma, a supplier of specialty chemicals to the textile, paper and emulsions industries, reported BASF on its site.
Archroma is a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, a private investment firm with focus on the specialty materials, chemicals and healthcare sectors. It is planned to integrate the business into the Archroma Textile Chemicals Specialties business. Currently, the textile chemicals business is part of BASF’s Performance Chemicals division.
The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities and the closing is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2015. The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details.
The transaction comprises the global textile chemicals business, as well as the legal entity BASF Pakistan (Private) Ltd., Karachi. This step is in line with BASF’s strategy of actively managing its portfolio and it will further sharpen the focus of the Performance Products segment on growth driven customer industries.
The textile chemicals business of BASF offers solutions to the full textile processing value chain, which includes a portfolio for pre-treatment, printing, finishing and coating. The business has a global presence with a strong focus on Asian growth markets, and is headquartered in Singapore.
As MRC wrote previously, in December 2014 BASF signed a contract to sell its Vinuran PVC modifier business to Kaneka Belgium N.V., a subsidiary of Kaneka Corporation, Japan. The transaction comprises intangible assets and inventory. It does not include a transfer of the production assets or employees in Ludwigshafen. The acrylate-based Vinuran PVC modifier business is not a core business for BASF. The transaction allows BASF to focus on growth of its acrylate-based dispersions portfolio.
Archroma is a global color and specialty chemicals company, headquartered in Reinach near Basel, Switzerland. It operates with approximately 3,000 employees over 35 countries. Through its three businesses: Textile Specialties, Paper Solutions and Emulsion Products, Archroma delivers specialized performance and color solutions to meet customer needs in their local markets.
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. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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