The Dow Chemical Company has signed
a definitive agreement under which
ANGUS Chemical Company will be sold
to Golden Gate Capital for $1.215 billion. The transaction is expected to close
during the first quarter of 2015, subject
to completion of customary regulatory
filings. Dow had previously announced
its intent to divest this business on Oct.
2, 2014. The divestiture aligns to Dow’s
efforts to achieve its identified target of
$4.5 billion to $6 billion in proceeds
from shedding non-strategic assets and
businesses by year-end 2015. To date,
Dow has achieved $2.5 billion in proceeds designed to remunerate shareholders, reduce debt, and fund growth.
“With today’s announcement, Dow
continues to demonstrate its rigorous
focus on selectively shifting our portfo-
lio away from assets that are no longer a
strategic fit and optimizing their value,”
said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman
and chief executive officer. “We remain
committed to streamlining our portfolio
aligned to our market-driven, integrated
strategy and will continue to pursue ad-
ditional portfolio actions in our relentless
pursuit of rewarding shareholders.”
The divestiture of ANGUS in-
cludes the business headquarters
and R&D facility in Buffalo Grove,
Illinois; manufacturing facilities lo-
cated in Sterlington, Louisiana, and
Ibbenbueren, Germany; a packaging
facility in Niagara Falls, New York;
as well as the associated business, in-
ventory, customer contracts, process
technology, business know-how and
certain intellectual property. ANGUS
is the world’s only chemical company
dedicated to the manufacture and dis-
tribution of nitroalkanes and their de-
rivatives, which are versatile additives
and intermediates that help customers
to enhance their products’ performance.
Industries using ANGUS’ products
include paints and coatings, life sciences and biopharma, metalworking,
personal care, pharmaceuticals, water
treatment and oil & gas. Approximately
290 employee positions globally are expected to transition employment status as ANGUS moves to being owned
by Golden Gate Capital as part of the
transaction. Under terms of the purchase agreement, ANGUS will continue
to honor customer, licensing and supplier contracts and related agreements.
Arkema Finalizes Asset
Acquisition in China
Arkema has finalized the first stage of
its acrylics assets acquisition project
in Taixing, China, and now has access
to a modern and competitive 160,000
ton/year acrylic acid production capacity in Asia for the sum of $240 million.
This investment will enable the Group
to serve its customers in China and in
Asia in growing markets such as super-absorbents, paints, adhesives and water
treatment.
Arkema has finalized the creation
of Sunke, a joint venture with Jurong
Chemical, in which Arkema has a majority interest, and which consists in particular of two acrylic acid production lines
each amounting to 160,000 ton/year located on the Taixing site in China. With
the closing of this first stage, Arkema
has access to half of the site’s installed
production.
“This new site will enable us to meet
our customers’ growing demand for
acrylic acid and esters in China and in
Asia, and to support the growth of our
Coating Solutions segment in this region
of the world. The successful integration
of these new assets will be a priority for
the Group and its personnel over the next
few months,” stated Marc Schuller, member of Arkema’s Executive Committee.
Jurong Chemical is the world’s fifth
largest producer of acrylic acid and the
acrylics leader in China. It is a subsidiary of Sunvic, a company listed on the
Singapore stock market.
BASF to Increase Production
Capacity at Nanjing, China
Plant
BASF will expand the production capacity of its existing world-scale production
plant for tertiary Butylamine (tBA) at
the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park in
China. The company plans to increase the
existing production capacity by 60 percent, from 10,000 tons to 16,000 tons per
year. The expansion is expected to come
on stream in early 2015, subject to regulatory approval. The capacity increase
will further strengthen BASF’s leading
position as a global supplier to the rubber
and tire industry.
tBA is a primary aliphatic amine that
is used as an intermediate for the production of accelerators for the rubber and
tire industry. It is also used in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries as a
building block. In addition to the plant in
Nanjing, BASF produces tBA in Geismar,
Louisiana, and in Antwerp, Belgium.
U.S. Zinc Completes
Second Phase of Zinc Oxide
Expansion
U.S. Zinc has completed the planned ex-
pansion project of their domestic zinc ox-
ide plant in Millington, Tennessee ahead of
schedule. The expansion will increase zinc
oxide production by 8,000 metric tons per
year and enable the company to better serve
customers and provide reliable supply.
The startup of the new Millington
furnace marks the completion of the pre-
viously announced two-phased zinc ox-
ide plant expansions, which have added
more than 17,000 metric tons of zinc
oxide production. The company previ-
ously completed the first phase of the
expansion at their Clarksville, Tenneseee,
plant in early 2014, increasing zinc oxide
production by 9,000 metric tons per year.
As in Clarksville, the Millington plant
expansion included expanding ware-
house space, installing new equipment
and adding new employees.
Dow To Sell ANGUS Chemical Company
