Combined Solenis boasts expanded product portfolio and cost-effective solutions for paper and water treatment customers

BASF’s Bradford site is one of the largest and most productive single site chemical plants in the UK. The site is approximately 50 acres with 11 main production facilities and approximately 600 employees.

(PRESS RELEASE) LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany / WILMINGTON, Delaware, USA, 1-Feb-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Authorities have granted approval for BASF and Solenis to complete the merger of their paper and water chemicals businesses. Originally announced in May 2018, BASF and Solenis have now completed the transfer of BASF’s paper wet-end and water chemicals business to Solenis. The newly merged business will run under the Solenis name as of February 1, 2019. The combined business will offer increased sales, service and production capabilities across the globe.

51% of the shares in the newly combined enterprise will be controlled by funds managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and the Solenis management while BASF will hold a 49% share.

The newly formed structure will have around €2.4 billion pro forma sales in 2017 and the combined number of employees will stand at 5,200.

BASF is going to account for its share in Solenis using the equity method and include its share of the company’s net income in EBIT before special items and EBIT for the BASF Group.

BASF’s paper wet-end and water chemicals business sites and plants that are included in the merger are listed below:

• Bradford and Grimsby, UK;
• Suffolk, Virginia, USA;
• Altamira, Mexico;
• Ankleshwar, India, and
• Kwinana, Australia

What’s not included: 

The paper and water chemicals production plants of BASF in Verbund in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Nanjing, China, are not part of the merger deal and hence not transferred. They will, however, deliver products and raw materials to the combined entity under mid- to long-term supply agreements. BASF’s paper coating chemicals portfolio is not part of the transaction either.

Anup Kothari, president of BASF’s Performance Chemicals division:

“Joining forces with Solenis is the right step for BASF’s paper and water chemicals business to maintain sustainable growth and will enable us to share in the future success of this promising joint entity. Together, we will provide the broadest scope of products and services to meet the needs of the global paper and water industry.”

John Panichella, president and CEO, Solenis

“Combining our strong heritages creates the leading customer-focused, global solutions provider for the paper and water industries. Customers from these industries will benefit from our joint strengths, resulting in an unparalleled and complementary range of products and services, state-of-the-art innovations and know-how.”

SOURCE: BASF