Swiss-based chemical giant Clariant is set to buy German competitor Süd-Chemie after announcing strong growth in 2010.
Clariant's Swiss HQ Courtesy of Clariant |
Clariant, whose businesses include provision of specialist chemicals to the oil and mining industry from its Texas-based business unit, is close to sealing a $2.6bn deal to take full ownership of the German specialist chemical manufacturer.
The acquisition comes at the end of a two-year resucture by Clariant which has included a significant financial improvement, showing 8% sales growth for 2010 at $7.6bn, with net income for they year of $204m, substantially ahead of analyst's estimates.
Süd-Chemie's own predicted figures for 2010 are set to show adjusted earnings of $131m on $1.7bn sales, split between its adsorbents and catalysts divisions.
Taking on the Süd-Chemie business will add a wide range of speciality chemicals, including olefin production, to Clariant's portfolio as well as increasing its R & D capacity and give Clariant a total of 12 business units.