LANXESS, Leverkusen, Germany, has announced a multi-year tenancy agreement with the University of Western Ontario (U.W.O) Research Park in London, Ontario, which will become the new home for the LANXESS Butyl Rubber Business Unit polymer research group. The new facility will have global responsibility for the research and development of butyl and butyl-like elastomers. Relocation to the London site is expected by the end of 2009.

The new facility being built by the U.W.O. Research Park aims to create a global center of excellence for material research. The multi-tenant facility will house research institutes and start-up companies. The move gives LANXESS researchers access to people and equipment at all academic levels, plus the added synergies of collaborating in a multidisciplinary environment.

In February, LANXESS announced that it will build a new butyl rubber manufacturing facility in Singapore, the largest investment in the company’s history.