German specialty chemicals company Lanxess has completed the sale of its chrome chemicals business to Chinese leather chemicals producer Brother Enterprises for €80m ($89m).
The deal was first announced on 12 August last year, when the two companies signed an agreement.
Lanxess noted that the transaction obtained all the necessary approvals from the relevant antitrust authorities.
A part of Lanxess Leather business unit, the chrome chemicals business has been generating an annual revenue of nearly €100m ($111m).
Lanxess has been producing chrome chemicals at two locations, namely Newcastle and Merebank in South Africa.
The Newcastle plant is engaged in the production of sodium dichromate, which is partly processed into chromic acid.
The Merebank site is involved in the production of chrome tanning salts from sodium dichromate. The salts produced at the facility are used in the chrome tanning process for leather.
As part of the deal, Brother Enterprises has acquired Lanxess’s Newcastle facility, along with the 220 employees.
In addition, Lanxess will continue the production and supply of the chrome tanning salts to Brother Enterprises on a contract basis, probably until 2024.
In August 2018, Lanxess announced its plans to sell a 50% stake in the synthetic-rubber joint venture (JV) Arlanxeo to its partner Saudi Aramco.
The move was part of Lanxess’ strategy to boost financial basis while reducing its net financial debt.
From this deal, Lanxess expected nearly €1.4bn in cash after deducting debt and financial liabilities for its 50% share.
Source: Chemicals Technology
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