Coatings: Arkema Will Pay $725 Million To Buy Three Total Businesses

Specialty chemical maker Arkema will pay more than $725 million to acquire three coatings ingredients businesses from its former parent, the French oil company Total. Arkema was spun out of Total in 2006.

When the deal closes in the first half of 2011, “we should become a global leader in the coatings market alongside BASF and Dow Chemical,” says Arkema CEO Thierry Le Hénaff. The acquisition will include 20 sites in 13 countries employing 1,750 people. Sales from the three units will exceed $1.1 billion this year, Total projects, up 20% from 2009.

Included in the sale are resins, emulsions, and rheology additives for coatings, adhesives, and inks. They are sold in Europe, Asia, and South Africa by Cray Valley and in the U.S. by Cook Composites & Polymers. Also included is Sartomer, a maker of ingredients for radiation-curable coatings. Total will retain Cook’s composites resins business and Cray’s hydrocarbon specialties business.

“On paper, Arkema and the coatings companies have everything going for them since they know each other,” says Phil Phillips, managing director of paint industry experts Chemark Consulting.

The acquisition also should allow Arkema to leverage its existing acrylic acid and paint latex assets, Phillips notes. Early this year, the firm bought Dow’s acrylic acid plant in Clear Lake, Texas, and its UCAR latex business in North America. “The three Total businesses will give Arkema additional acrylic systems to compete with Dow and BASF in the marketplace,” Phillips says.

Chemical & Engineering News

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