DSM to sell fertilizer and melamine units to Egypt's Orascom

(Paragraph 7 revised to add clarity about OCI's intended investments.)

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--DSM has agreed to sell its fertilizer and melamine business groups to Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) for €310m ($419m) on a cash and debt-free basis, the Netherlands-based company said on Tuesday.

"The intended sale of DSM Agro and DSM Melamine is a very important step in DSM’s transformation towards a life sciences and materials sciences company," said DSM CEO and chairman Feike Sijbesma in a statement.

The deal with OCI was expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2010, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals, DSM said.

The two groups, along with several other businesses and activities, are part of DSM’s base chemicals and materials cluster, which the company intends to sell off, it said.

DSM Melamine is the largest producer of melamine in the world, while DSM Agro produces ammonia and high-nitrogen fertilizers for agricultural crops, according to the statement.

OCI currently has 2m tonnes/year of nitrogen fertilizer capacity in Egypt and an upcoming 2m tonne/year fertilizer complex in Algeria, according to the statement.

OCI said its purchase of DSM Agro would make it a global leader in fertilizer production and distribution. With the start-up of its Algeria complex, upgrades in Egypt and investments in fertilizer derivatives products, OCI said its annual production capacity was expected to be about 5m tonnes.

"The acquisition…provides us with a strong position in the fertilizer market in northwest Europe…as well as a leading position in the melamine market worldwide, which as a downstream activity to urea provides a new area of growth for our company," said Nassef Sawiris, OCI’s chairman and CEO.

OCI consists of two main units: OCI Construction Group and OCI Fertilizer Group.

($1 = €0.74)