Germany's Bayer MaterialScience will sell its global powder polyester resins business and its US-based liquid polyester resins merchant business to the US Stepan Company of Northfield, Illinois, the company said Tuesday.
The sale, for which financial terms were not disclosed, is scheduled to be completed by June 1.
"The divestiture allows us to focus on our core competencies," said Daniel Meyer, head of the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties business unit at Bayer MaterialScience.
Both Bayer businesses are located in Columbus, Georgia. The 45 Bayer employees who work at the Columbus facility will be offered the opportunity to become Stepan employees.
Bayer will retain its trade name Desmophen to continue to sell its portfolio of products to the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) industries around the world, including liquid polyester resins in markets outside the US.
"Stepan is a producer of polyester polyol used in rigid insulation foam. This acquisition will diversify our polyol offering and accelerate our efforts to grow in CASE and PUSH [polyurethane systems house] applications," said F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., president and CEO of Stepan Company. "We intend to make future capital expenditures to expand the capabilities at Columbus."
Bayer acquired the Columbus facility in 2000 when it purchased Sybron Chemicals Inc. Today, the facility includes both commercial and production operations, serving the North American market.
Powder polyester resins are used in a variety of coatings applications, including industrial metal and transportation coatings. Liquid polyester resins are utilized as building blocks in various coatings and adhesives.
