|
News
Font Size: 
January 22, 2007 |
Wacker Chemie AG, Munich, Germany, has announced plans to acquire full ownership of Air Products Polymers (APP) and Wacker Polymer Systems (WPS), its two joint ventures with Air Products and Chemicals Inc., Lehigh Valley, PA. According to a statement from Wacker, the acquisition will provide strategic advantages to its global construction-polymers business through cost advantages stemming from backward integration at US and Asian dispersion plants, as well as the expansion of its supply chain outside the eurozone.
The closing of the transaction, which is subject to approval by antitrust authorities, is expected in the first quarter of 2008. As part of the agreement, Wacker retains the vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) activities of the joint venture, while Air Products will receive full ownership in the Elkton, MD, and Piedmont, SC, production facilities and their related businesses plus cash considerations of US $265 million. With approval, the transaction would contribute substantially to developing Wacker's polymer business to around €1 billion in sales in 2008, says the company.
Currently, Wacker owns 35 per cent and Air Products 65 per cent of APP. As for WPS, Wacker holds 80 per cent and Air Products, 20 per cent. The planned acquisition focuses on the activities of APP and WPS in vinyl acetate ethylene-based dispersions and dispersible polymer powders. Wacker plans to acquire all of the two companies' related activities at their APP and WPS sites in Allentown, PA, Calvert City, KY, Cologne and Burghausen, Germany, South Brunswick, NJ, and Ulsan, Korea. Wacker intends to continue operating this business out of Lehigh Valley. Wacker Chemie AG's CEO, saw the acquisition as another logical step in the Group's growth strategy. "Our agreement will give Wacker fully integrated production sites in the USA and Asia. The economies of scale and synergies resulting from this extension of our value chain will bring us cost advantages," said Wacker CEO Peter-Alexander Wacker in a statement.
www.airproducts.com
www.wacker.com
News Archives
|
leftnav.html
