Lanxess buys Rubber Chemicals from Flexsys

Leverkusen, Germany -- Lanxess has agreed to acquire two businesses from Flexsys, a division of Solutia Inc. based in St Louis, Missouri.

The move includes selected parts of Solutia's primary accelerator business as well as its anti-reversion agent Perkalink 900. No employees will transfer and both parties have decided not to disclose the acquisition prices, Lanxess said in an 8 Nov announcement.

The acquisition of the primary accelerator business requires approval from the relevant antitrust authorities, the statement added.

Lanxess says it is already a leading supplier of primary accelerators, with its Vulkacit brand, and has invested Euro 10 million over the last two years to upgrade its world-scale plant in Kallo, Belgium. Solutia's accelerators business will be integrated into this faciliy and another in Bushy Park, South Carolina, the German firm said.

Accelerators help determine the speed of the vulcanisation process and help to achieve the desired properties of the finished rubber product, the Lanxess statement explained.

The anti-reversion agent Perkalink 900 is one of the leading products to avoid the risk of reversion during vulcanisation and thus improve the service life of tyres and other technical rubber products. It also complements Lanxess' existing specialties portfolio, which includes its own anti-reversion agent, tradenamed Vulcuren, the statement continued.

“The transactions clearly underline our commitment to maintain a reliable supply of high-quality chemicals to the tyire and technical rubber industries,” said Luis López-Remón, head of the Rubber Chemicals business unit of Lanxess, in the announcement.

Separately,

Greta Senn, president and general manager of Solutia's Technical

Specialties division said "the sale of the Perkalink business is yet another strategic step

forward in focusing Solutia's Flexsys portfolio on the manufacture and

supply of high-value, global market-leading rubber chemicals. In addition, our ability to sell select assets of

Solutia's discontinued Primary Accelerators business allows us to

maximise the value of those assets as we exit the business."

The Perkalink business represented less than 1 percent of Solutia's consolidated sales in 2009, the Solutia satement added.

The Rubber Chemicals business unit (RUC) of Lanxess is one of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of rubber chemicals to tyre manufacturers and producers of technical rubber goods. Its portfolio comprises a broad range of premium products to enhance properties of rubber. RUC has sites in Leverkusen, Brunsbuettel, Krefeld-Uerdingen (all Germany), Kallo, Bushy Park, Tongling (China), Jhagadia (India) and Isithebe (South Africa).

Flexsys is part of Solutia's Technical Specialities product portfolio, which provides the manufacture and supply of market leading, differentiated, high-quality rubber chemicals and speciailty fluids. Solutia's annual revenue is about $ 1.7 billion andit employs about 3400 in more than 50 worldwide locations.

Lanxess is a leading speciality chemicals company with sales of EUR 5.06 billion in 2009 and currently around 14 400 employees in 23 countries. The company is represented at 42 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and speciality chemicals.

Solutia says it is one of the world's largest producers of chemicals for the rubber and tyre industries, its Flexsys products help control the process of manufacturing rubber, while improving its durability, flexibility and appearance.

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Press release from Lanxess

Press release from Solutia