Ciba to buy photoinitiator unit of Italy's Lamberti

15 September 2008 13:44  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Ciba Specialty Chemicals has agreed to buy the photoinitiator business of specialty chemicals producer Lamberti Group for an undisclosed sum, the company said on Monday.

 

Based in Italy, the business has worldwide sales of under €20m ($29m) and employs less than 50 people, Ciba said.

 

“Lamberti’s photoinitiator business is attractive because of its excellent fit with our current offer and its valuable intellectual property and expertise,” said Ciba CEO Brendan Cummins.

 

“This move will strengthen ultraviolet (UV) curing as a growth driver in our Coating Effects business.”

 

Photoinitiators are used in the UV curing of surfaces in industrial coatings, inks, adhesives and electronics for end-products such as food packaging.

 

On absorption of light, they catalyse chemical reactions that result in significant changes in the solubility and physical properties of the surface and help speed polymerisation of the final cross-linked product.

  

Regulatory approval was pending, but the two companies intend to finalise the deal as as soon as possible. The agreements comes as Ciba's board was urging its shareholders to accept a Swfr6.1bn ($5.5bn/€3.9bn) takeover bid from German chemicals group BASF.

 

($1 = Swfr1.11, €0.70/€1 = Swfr1.60)

 

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By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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