Lonza said on Thursday it has struck a deal to sell its water care business to U.S. investment company Platinum Equity for $630 million.
Lonza, which said it was selling the business as part of its long-term strategy to focus on its health care business, expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2019. The inclusion of the French business in this transaction is still under discussion.
The water treatment and residential swimming pool care business has six manufacturing facilities, including North America, South America, Europe and South Africa, with roughly 1,200 employees.
Lonza said in May that it had taken on an investment bank to look at strategic options for the business that sells HTH brand swimming pool products.
Lonza, a chemicals and drug ingredients maker has been increasing its presence in the health care business, buying pill capsule maker Capsugel for $5.5 billion in 2016.
That deal was designed to expand its range of services beyond drug ingredient and production services the Basel company has traditionally supplied.
“We are putting the Water Care business in the hands of an experienced owner who will develop Water Care as a stand-alone business while focusing on innovation and further growth,” Lonza Chief Executive Richard Ridinger said.
“The divestment further strengthens our strategic focus on our three core pillars – Pharma & Biotech, Consumer Health and Consumer & Resources Protection – within the healthcare continuum.”
By John Revill
Source: Reuters
We are closing the chapter of the Chemicals Import Export Headquarters, and opening a new chapter under the name of Qemetica – a chemical group driving many industries on all continents. Therefore, the change of name is also accompanied by the adoption of the key goals of the business strategy for the next 6 years. – says Kamil Majczak, President of the Management Board.
In its efforts to advance chemical recycling, Neste has successfully conducted its first processing trial run with a new challenging raw material, liquefied discarded tires. In the processing run, Neste produced high-quality raw material for new plastics and chemicals.
Sika is opening a state-of-the-art facility in Lima, Peru, to produce synthetic macro fibers, and expanding the rollout of a product range with great growth potential in Latin America. With this innovative technology, Sika is further strengthening its position as a leading supplier to the mining industry and a strong partner for infrastructure projects.
