Arkema has announced plans to acquire the Coatings Resins (Cray Valley and Cook Composite Polymers) and Photocure Resins (Sartomer) businesses of Total’s Specialty Chemicals activities for a €550 million (~ $767 million) enterprise value. In line with its strategy to bolster its specialty product activities, the project would establish Arkema as a leader in the global coatings resins market. In addition, it would further increase the downstream integration of its acrylics chain while offering the potential for growth and synergies.
Businesses involved in the transaction include the coatings resins (paint, adhesives, etc.) of Cray Valley, which operates in Europe, Asia and South Africa; U.S.-based Cook Composite Polymers; and the photocure resins of Sartomer, which operates in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. With growing sales of approximately €850 million (~ $1,186 million) and almost 1,750 employees on some 20 sites around the world, these activities would enhance Arkema’s current position on markets such as emulsions, rheology additives, fluorinated polymers and copolymers.
It’s expected that the wider product range will enable Arkema to serve its customers throughout the world as one of the world’s leading material suppliers to the coatings market. By acquiring Sartomer, Arkema would become the world’s co-leader in the photocure resins market. As high value-added technical products in the downstream acrylics sector, these resins offer a significant growth potential in a range of markets, including graphic arts, optics, and electronics.
The combination of activities and technologies would speed up growth through major technical and commercial synergies. In particular, this project would provide Arkema with new growth drivers in Asia. Arkema would be able to draw on Cray Valley’s facilities in the region and on the strong potential of Sartomer’s newly opened plant near Canton, China.
With dedicated R&D centers in Europe and the U.S., Arkema would benefit from best-in-class innovation resources that would secure its competitive edge, in particular to develop new environmentally friendly formulations.
At the same time, the proposed acquisition would bolster Arkema’s downstream acrylics activities as a logical follow-up to the acquisition of Coatex in 2007 and to the acquisition of the emulsions purchased from Dow in North America at the beginning of 2010. The acrylic downstream integration would reach 40%. This acquisition would be part of the acquisition program representing some €1 billion (~ $1.3 billion) of sales recently presented by the group.
The project is subject to the mandatory information and consultation process involving personnel representatives from both the Arkema and the Total groups, as well as the approval of the antitrust authorities in the countries concerned. The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.
For additional details, visit www.arkema.com or www.total.com.
