German chemical and plastics producer Lanxess (Cologne; www.lanxess.com) has completed its acquisition of US speciality chemicals producer Chemtura (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania / USA; www.chemtura.com) following all approvals. In early February, Chemtura’s shareholders overwhelmingly greenlighted the deal with an enterprise value of EUR 2.4 bn – see Plasteurope.com of 06.02.2017. With the acquisition under its belt, Lanxess will move into a bigger league in terms of sales and employees after gaining more worldwide clout in 2016 by partnering its synthetic rubber business with Saudi Aramco (Dhahran / Saudi Arabia; www.saudiaramco.com).

In the latest deal, Lanxess has picked up 2,500 employees at 20 sites in 11 countries worldwide, generating annual sales of around EUR 1.5 bn. The German company’s North American presence has been considerably enhanced, with the number of production sites now doubled to 24 and workforce levels widened to 2,800 from 1,500. The region’s share of global sales has risen to about 21% from 17%.

The takeover of Chemtura is expected to generate annual synergies of around EUR 100m for Lanxess up to 2020. In particular the additives assets will create considerable value, CEO Matthias Zachert said. The US company’s urethanes and organometallic businesses are complementary to the portfolio, and new business units will be added to incorporate some of the new production capability.