BASF to Acquire Chemetall Surface Treatment Business from Albemarle Corp.

United States: BASF SE, a multinational chemicals manufacturer based in Germany expected to purchase the Chemetall surface treatment business division of US based Albemarle Corp. at a cash price of USD3.2 billion. In early 2015, acquisition of Rockwood Holdings worth USD6.32 billion by Albemarle Corp. lead to the addition of Chemetall business to Albemarle. Albemarle appointed Bank of America to divest its Chemetall surface coatings business. Chemetall, headquartered in Frankfurt, is a global supplier of applied metal surface treatments. The company has 21 production facilities located in 20 countries along with 10 R&D facilities and 24 sales offices. The products of Chemetall provides protection of metals from corrosion, enables forming and machining, helps in preparation of parts through painting process, and ensure proper coating adhesion. These products are majorly used in automotive, aerospace, coil, and metal forming industries etc.

TechSci Research depicts that this acquisition would further help BASF to expand is coatings product portfolio. In addition, it would further help the company to strengthen its position in the paints and coating business globally. This agreement would further help to company expand and increase profits in downstream, innovation, and solution based businesses