Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) has agreed to sell its “Ethafoam” performance PE foam business to Sealed Air (Elmwood Park, New Jersey / USA; www.sealedair.com). The packaging producer will acquire global rights to certain assets relating to the Ethafoam and related product lines “Synergy”, “Equifoam”, “Envision” and “Lamdex” in North America und Europe. The deal, set to close in Q4 2007, also includes a licence to process technology, customer contracts, trademarks and certain production and process equipment.

Under the agreement, Dow will supply Sealed Air for up to 18 months following the close of the transaction, from its plants in Hanging Rock, Ohio / USA and Drusenheim / France. Sealed Air will then manufacture the products at its own facilities. Sealed Air CEO William Hickey said the acquisition “will expand our global presence for our specialty materials business and will provide additional opportunities to target a broad range of end-use applications and customised performance solutions.”