Dow Reichhold to cease business by end of year

22 August 2008 21:54  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US-based specialty latex producer Dow Reichhold will cease all business by the end of the year due to its failure to meet the strategies of its parent companies, a spokesman said on Friday.

“The joint venture is no longer strategic for the two parent companies,” said Dow Reichhold spokesman Mike Crisp, who also cited market conditions.

Formed in 2002, the specialty latex company is a 50/50 joint venture between Dow Chemical and Reichhold.

The company plans to sell certain business assets and permanently close all of its facilities, Dow Reichhold said in a statement. The company employs 203 people.

Dow Reichhold will close its headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; a plant manufacturing facility in Cheswold, Delaware; the company’s Asia/Pacific offices in Penang, Malaysia; and a laboratory and office in Shanghai, China.

The company had previously announced the closing of its manufacturing operation in Chickamauga, Georgia, effective on 31 August. The plant employs 57 people.

Dow Chemical plans to buy back the business assets that it originally contributed to the joint venture, Crisp said.

Dow Chemical “will service the respective customers directly in the future,” Dow Reichhold said. “The sale is expected to close within 30 days."

Dow Reichhold said it was also pursuing the sale of certain other business assets originally contributed by Reichhold.

The company manufactures and markets synthetic latexes used in adhesives, construction products, textiles and apparel products, synthetic latex gloves and dipped goods, flooring, automobiles, tapes and specialty papers and nonwovens.

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By: Brian Ford
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