Basell NV, the world's largest polypropylene maker, has sold its Hivalloy business and Interloy technology to Crompton Corp. of Middlebury, Conn.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Basell advanced polyolefins President Sergio Danesi said in a Nov. 7 news release that the deal enables Basell to concentrate on its specialty products.
Interloy is a grafting process that Basell used to make Hivalloy resins, which are PP-based products aimed at enhancing long-term weatherability, gloss and color retention and other attributes in blends, film and fibers. Basell, based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, had commercialized Hivalloy grades using methyl methacrylate and styrene before exiting the business at the end of 2001.
Hivalloy resins were slotted for use in automotive parts and other areas, but several years of effort failed to find a commercial home for the materials. Existing Hivalloy customers were served through a licensing agreement with Alloy Polymers Inc. in Gahanna, Ohio.
Crompton, a specialty chemicals company with annual sales of $2.7 billion, plans to produce, market and supply Interloy products worldwide as well as license the technology to compounders, Crompton officials said in the release.
Crompton - which is a major supplier of antioxidants, lubricants and other additives to plastics compounders - will move Hivalloy production equipment from Lake Charles, La., to an undisclosed location and resume production in December, according to Crompton polymer modifiers marketing manager Paul Hinckley.
The firm will attempt to license Interloy technology to some of the same customers it serves as an additives supplier, Hinckley added.
``We're not in the compounding business, but [Interloy technology] is another product we can offer to our compounding customers,'' he said.
Alloy's licensing deal and Hivalloy production will not be affected by the Basell-Crompton deal, according to Alloy licensed products director Tony Bernardo.
``This is a good deal for us because it gives us a long-term supplier,'' Bernardo said.
Basell, a joint venture between BASF AG and Royal Dutch/Shell Group, has annual sales of $6.5 billion.