WR Grace to buy fine chemicals manufacturer Synthetech

14 September 2010 09:20  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--WR Grace has reached an agreement to buy fine chemicals manufacturer Synthetech, the US-based specialty chemicals company said late on Monday.

The company said the aggregate purchase price for the transaction would be around $19.2m (€15.0m), less Synthetech’s unpaid debt and transaction costs at closing, and subject to a minimum cash balance of $600,000.

The merger of the two businesses would give Grace the capacity for the manufacture of specialty single-site and polypropylene catalysts used to produce plastics, said the producer.

It added that Synthetech's fine chemicals expertise in chiral and peptide intermediate synthesis would expand Grace's discovery sciences offerings to the pharmaceutical sector.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, but would be subject to approval by Synthetech's shareholders and the US Bankruptcy Court.

Grace said it anticipated completing the transaction during the fourth quarter of 2010.

Single-site and polypropylene catalysts are used in the production of plastics for automobile parts, household appliances and consumer product packaging.

Grace added that its previously announced expansion of PP catalyst manufacturing capacity at Worms, Germany, was expected to be operational in mid-2011.

($1 = €0.78)

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By: Hilde Ovrebekk
+44 20 8652 3214

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