Sud-Chemie, a specialty chemicals company headquartered in Munich, Germany signed an agreement with BASF to acquire BASF’s production site for synthesis gas (syngas) catalysts at Nanjing, China. The facility is independent from BASF’s main Verbund site in Nanjing. Both the companies did not disclose financial details of the transaction.
The facility produces more than 30 different types of syngas catalysts. A transition plan for the employees working at the process catalyst site is being developed together with Sud-Chemie.
Sud-Chemie claimed, with this acquisition, it will significantly expand its position in the Chinese catalyst market and will become the largest manufacturer of syngas catalysts in China.
Wilfried Seyfert, group vice president of process catalysts and technologies at BASF, said: China will continue to be a major focus of our process catalysts business. Because BASF has an extensive platform in China, we see our best growth opportunities in leveraging BASF’s assets to capitalize on the growing Chinese catalyst market. This catalysts site did not represent a strong fit with BASF’s other operations in China. We therefore determined that our best strategy was to sell the site as part of BASF’s ongoing efficiency and restructuring programs.
Gunter von Au, chairman of the managing board of Sud-Chemie, said: Acquiring syngas catalyst production in Nanjing is an important strategic cornerstone for the expansion of Sud-Chemie in China and expanding our catalyst business in Asia. With the new site, we strengthen not only our market position in the Chinese growth market for catalysts for converting coal into high quality chemical products, but we also consolidate our position as worldwide technology and market leader in this area of business.