MOSCOW (MRC) --- Belgium’s Solvay has completed the sale of its Charleston plant and associated phosphorus business in the US to German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess for an undisclosed fee, as per Solvay's press release.
Lanxess and Solvay agreed on the transaction in mid-November 2017.
The deal includes the Charleston site in South Carolina which houses six production units for phosphorus chloride and its derivatives.
The products at the Charleston site are used primarily as intermediates in plastic additives, flame retardants and agricultural applications.
According to Lanxess, the business in Charleston represents annual sales of roughly EUR65m.
As MRC wrote before, in early July 2016, Solvay completed the divestment of its shareholding in Inovyn (London), bringing to an end Solvay's chlorvinyls joint venture with Ineos. Solvay received exit cash proceeds amounting to EUR335 million (USD370.7 million). The dissolution of the jv follows regulatory clearances from the relevant authorities.
Inovyn was formed on 1 July 2015 as a jv between Ineos and SolVin, a subsidiary of Solvay. Solvay and Ineos signaled their decision to end their chlorvinyls jv in March this year.
Solvay, with a market share 27%, is the second largest PVC manufacturer in Europe, after Kerling with 29% of the market. Solvay is headquartered in Brussels with about 30,900 employees spread across 53 countries. It generated pro forma net sales of EUR12.4 bn in 2015, with 90% made from activities where it ranks among the world’s top 3 players.
MRC