EoW March 2011

11 / 162

EuroWire – March 2011 9
corporatenews
AlphaGary sold off for
$300m
Rockwood Holdings has sold its
AlphaGary Compounding Group to
Mexichem SAB de CV in a deal worth
$300m.
The deal, announced on 17th
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.
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.”
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.
AlphaGary – USA
Fax: +1 978 840 0856
Email:
Website:
Mexichem – Mexico
Fax: +52 55 5397 8836
Email:
Website:
AlphaGary’s Leominster site ▲ ▲
Follow us on:
Tweet us on:
Your new look
You can now keep right up to date
with all the latest in the wire and
cable industry, simply by signing up
to be our friend on Facebook.
We update the site weekly, giving
you the latest news of all the
happenings in the industry, from
the serious company buy-outs and
mergers to the more light-hearted
features.
Want news and quick? Then sign
up for your Twitter account and
follow us. Get short, bullet-pointed
news throughout the week from the
leading source of information in the
wire and cable industry.
We identified
AlphaGary
as a noncore
business several
years ago. I
think it’s a good
deal for both
parties
“
By our US correspondent