EoW March 2011

corporatenews AlphaGary sold off for $300m

By our US correspondent

Rockwood Holdings has sold its AlphaGary Compounding Group to Mexichem SAB de CV in a deal worth $300m. The deal, announced on 17 th December, was expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2011. It sees Mexichem, Mexico’s largest manufacturer of PVC pipe, vinyl resins and compounds, take its acquisitions spending to some $800m plus in a three-year period. AlphaGary – the largest division in Rockwood’s speciality compounds segment – had sales last year of $231m.

AlphaGary’s Leominster site ▲ ▲

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Seifi Ghasemi, Rockwood chairman and chief executive officer, said: “The completion of the sale of this compounding business is another step in concentrating our portfolio on high-margin, specialty chemicals and advanced materials businesses.” Mexichem, which produces a variety of chemical products at 40-plus plants in Latin America, USA, UK, Japan and Taiwan, announced net sales of some $2.17 billion for the first three quarters of 2010. “With this acquisition, we can combine AlphaGary’s research and development potential and innovative products with Mexichem’s geographic diversification, thus generating important synergies,” the company posted on the Mexico City stock exchange. The deal still has to be approved by antitrust authorities.

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We identified AlphaGary as a noncore business several years ago. I think it’s a good deal for both parties

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The Massachusetts-based company develops high technology compo- unds for niche applications. Its range of compounds includes flexible PVC and halogen-free alloys, styrene, vinyl and olefin-based thermoplastic elastomers, nylon alloys, polyurethane blends and cross-linkable polye- thylene. The company has four sites in the USA, UK and Canada. “We identified AlphaGary as a noncore business several years ago,” said Timothy McKenna, Rockwood vice-president of investor relations. “I think it’s a good deal for both parties.”

AlphaGary – USA Fax : +1 978 840 0856 Email : info@alphagary.com Website : www.alphagary.com

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Mexichem – Mexico Fax : +52 55 5397 8836

Email : info@mexichem.com Website : www.mexichem.com

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EuroWire – March 2011