PPG Industries Inc. announced that it plans to sell its precipitated silica products business to Qemetica SA (Warsaw) for $310 million. The deal comes after a strategic review of the business, which was announced in January. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
The business is a global provider of precipitated silicas used as additives in a number of applications. It has about 400 employees and generated about 1%-2% of PPG’s total sales of about $17.7 billion in 2023. The deal includes manufacturing facilities in Louisiana and the Netherlands. Qemetica will also lease manufacturing and research and development facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“This transaction will allow us to further focus our resources on our technology-differentiated coatings and specialty products businesses to accelerate our organic growth and drive increased shareholder value creation,” said PPG chairman and CEO Tim Knavish.
Qemetica is a privately-held producer of soda ash, vacuum salt and silicates with a major presence in Central Europe. The company generated about $1.22 billion in sales and $132 million in operating income in 2023, according to S&P Capital IQ.
PPG is the world’s fifth-largest producer of precipitated silica, accounting for about 5% of global production in 2021, according to “Chemical Economics Handbook: Silicates and Silicas” by S&P Global Commodity Insights. Evonik is the largest producer in the world, followed by Solvay, Madhu Silica and Quechen Silicon Chemical.
PPG is also reviewing its US and Canada architectural coatings business for a possible sale.
by Vincent Valk
Source: chemweek.com
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