Solvay acquires ASCC in Egypt

Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has entered into a final agreement for the acquisition of 100% of Alexandria Sodium Carbonate Company (ASCC) from Holding Company for Chemical Industries (HCCI), an Egyptian State-owned holding company. The operation is part of Solvay’s geographical expansion strategy and will allow the group to attend to the growing needs of Egyptian consumers and to support the projects of its customers in the fast-growing Middle-Eastern and North-African (MENA) markets. Solvay had emerged as the preferred bidder as a result of the final auction, which the Egyptian authorities organized on March 27, 2008 – valuing ASCC at 760 million Egypt pounds (100-million euros). ASCC produces both sodium carbonate and quicklime; it is Egypt’s only sodium carbonate producer and primarily serves the domestic market. ASCC’s plant was erected in 1974 near the city of Alexandria. It was thoroughly modernized at the end of the 1990s and currently has a nameplate production capacity of 130,000 metric tons (m.t.) of soda ash per year. “With this acquisition, Solvay gains a privileged access to the very dynamic Egyptian market,” says Christine Tahon, managing director of Solvay’s…