Lanxess acquires majority share in Petroflex

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has successfully completed the acquisition of an approximate 70 % holding in Petroflex S.A., Latin America’s biggest rubber producer. Lanxess is paying some 200-million euros for the package of shares. The transaction took legal and economic effect on April 1, 2008. Petroflex S.A. will be included in Lanxess’s consolidated financial statements from the second quarter of 2008. In accordance with local regulations, Lanxess will shortly issue a public takeover offer for the remaining shares. In 2007 Petroflex achieved sales equivalent to about 535-million euros with 1,300 employees, of which around 600 were the company’s own. The Group has three production sites in Brazil: Cabo (Federal State of Pernambuco), Duque de Caxias (Federal State of Rio de Janeiro) and Triunfo (Federal State of Rio Grande do Sul). Annual production capacity is approximately 400,000 m.t. The range of elastomer products ranges from solution to emulsion rubber and comprises 70 products: The rubber grades are mainly used in the production of tires, with hoses and plastics being further applications. Around one-third of output is exported to more than 70 countries. In Brazil,…