KEY POINTS:
Chemical and resins company Nuplex said today it had bought the G-Cure acrylic polyol resins business from giant German chemical firm Cognis for an undisclosed sum.
No fixed assets were included in the deal.
Mainly focused on the Nafta (North American Free Trade Association) region, the G-Cure business generated net sales of approximately US$13 million ($17m) in 2006.
The business consists of acrylic polyol-based resins for the industrial coatings industry.
G-Cure products are sold primarily into the heavy- and light-duty industrial maintenance and automotive refinish markets.
"As this business is not key to the Cognis strategy and has limited synergies with our other coatings activities, we feel that Nuplex is better positioned to realise its growth prospects," said Chris Toomey of Cognis.
Nuplex Americas general manager Mike Kelly said acrylic resins for the coatings industry was a key business for Nuplex.
"This product line is an excellent addition to our existing resins portfolio and enhances our ability to provide performance solutions to our customers and further underlines our commitment to provide innovative acrylic technology for the future."
Cognis is owned by private equity funds by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences.
In 2006, it had sales of 3.37 billion euros ($6.63b). Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were flat at 214 million euros, as cost cutting and higher selling prices could partly offset rising raw material prices, especially in natural oils and fats.
In August it said it could suffer net losses for the full year, partly due to one-off costs incurred to refinance its debt and changes to the German tax regime.
Cognis recently refinanced its 2b euros of debt, allowing the company to save about 74m euros a year in interest expenses.
- NZPA
