Technology firm W.R. Grace & Co. has acquired the polyolefin catalysts business of BASF SE for an undisclosed price.
The deal includes Lynx-brand catalyst technologies that are used in production of high density polyethylene and polypropylene resins. HDPE resins made with Lynx technology are used in bimodal film and pipe. The HDPE catalysts are used in slurry production, while the PP catalysts being acquired are used in slurry, bulk loop, stirred gas, fluid gas and stirred bulk production.
The purchase also includes catalyst production plants in Pasadena, Texas; and Tarragona, Spain. The business being acquired employs 170 globally.
“This opportunity is perfectly aligned with our focus on core catalysts and materials technologies,” Fred Festa, chairman and CEO of Columbia, Md.-based Grace, said in an April 22 news release.
BASF catalysts President Kenneth Lane said in a release that, with the divestiture, Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF “will continue to sharpen [its] focus on key growth areas” such as chemical and refinery catalysts.
Publicly held Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts and engineered materials. The firm employs 6,700 worldwide and has annual sales of more than $2.5 billion.
BASF ranks as one of the world's largest makers of chemicals and specialty plastics. The company employs 112,000 worldwide and has annual sales of almost $80 billion.