DowDuPont Inc. has sold the European arm of its Styrofoam-brand extruded polystyrene insulation business, including seven production plants, to materials supplier Ravago Group.
A Dow spokesman told Plastics News that the divestment includes all XPS operations at plants in Dilovasi, Turkey; Drusenheim, France; Kings Lynn, England; Lavrion, Greece; Norrköping, Sweden; and Rheinmünster and Schkopau, Germany.
The deal includes support functions including sales and marketing, research and development, supply chain, customer service and a small number of other business dedicated roles across Europe.
"Based on the European XPS business' historical investment profile, our company believes the business is better suited for Ravago," the spokesman said in a Feb. 8 email. "This strategic adjustment was made in order to prepare for the intended spin of three independent companies and to ensure these future companies are setup for success."
Plastics and chemicals giants Dow and DuPont Co. merged in early 2017. They will split into separate companies again in April, with a third company — Corteva — spinning off from DuPont in June.
No purchase price was disclosed in the Dow-Ravago XPS deal. Almost 300 people work for the business that is being sold.
Ravago Group is a global distribution, compounding and recycling firm based in Luxembourg. Its global units include Ravago Holdings America, a major North American resin and chemicals distributor based in Orlando, Fla.
Ravago Group employs 6,000 worldwide, distributing almost 9 billion pounds of resins and compounds to 40,000 customers. The firm's compounding and recycling units have combined annual global capacity of more than 1 billion pounds.
