US chemical giant DuPont (Wilmington, Delaware; www.dupont.com) said it intends to purchase China’s Laird Performance Materials (Shanghai; www.laird.com) for USD 2.3 bn in cash from private equity company Advent International (Boston, Massachusetts / USA; www.adventinternational.com). The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, DuPont said.

Ed Breen, executive chairman and CEO of DuPont, said, “Laird Performance Materials is a strategic and complementary addition to the Electronics & Industrial (E&I) business, and our applied material science expertise together with Laird Performance Materials’ industry-leading application engineering capabilities further strengthens DuPont as an essential partner for major electronics OEMs and manufacturers.”

The deal could be backed with proceeds from sales of the nutrition and biosciences unit along with the clean technologies business, which together are expected to bring in some USD 7.8 bn, a large part of which is likely to be used to repay debt (see Plasteurope.com of 05.02.2021).

Laird, with over 4,300 employees at 11 plants worldwide, generated revenues of USD 465m last year. The company boasts expertise in high-performance electromagnetic shielding and thermal management in foils, foams, laminates and electroplating, among other things.