US Celanese to acquire Italian compounder SoFTer Group

Al Greenwood

17-Oct-2016

New headquarters in Texas. USE THIS as of June 2016. (Celanese)
The Texas-based company expects to nearly double the product platforms in its engineered-materials group with the deal. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Celanese)

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Celanese plans to acquire the Italian compounder SoFTer Group, the US-based acetyls producer said on Monday.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal should close in the fourth quarter.

The acquisition will nearly double the number of product platforms in Celanese’s engineered-materials group, the company said. In addition, Celanese can tap into SoFTer’s plants for further growth and investment.

Celanese expects to integrate SoFTer’s portfolio and plants into its engineered-materials business, the company said.

SoFTer’s products include thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and engineered thermoplastics (ETPs) such as nylon.

Earlier this year, Celanese had discussed making some kind of nylon deal and expanding its engineered-materials business.

Celanese makes several resins, such as polyoxymethylene (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and long-fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. Many of these resins are used in automobiles.

SoFTer’s resins complement Celanese’s and they are also used in automobiles.

“This is the next step in the evolution of Celanese to extend our global leadership position in the engineered-materials market,” said Scott Sutton, Celanese executive vice president and president of materials solutions.

“This acquisition continues Celanese’s focus on bringing technical expertise, production and compounding capabilities closer to our valued customers by extending our footprint with industry leading products and capabilities in Italy, Mexico, Brazil and the US,” he said.

SoFTer has four plants in Europe and four in the Americas.

INSET IMAGE: Many of these resins are used in automobiles. (Neil Godwin / Future Publishing/REX/Shutterstock)

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