Brussels, November 22, 2013 - Solvay announces it has agreed to acquire the specialty chemical assets of ERCA Quimica, Ltda. in Brazil
Brussels, November 22, 2013 - Solvay announces it has agreed to acquire the specialty chemical assets of Erca Quimica, Ltda. in Brazil. This will allow the Group to more than double its production capacity in surfactants in Brazil and to serve customers in the agrochemicals, home & personal care, coatings, mining and oil & gas markets.
The investment will give Solvay's Novecare business unit greater access to one of the world's largest personal care and agrochemicals markets and which are growing at a double-digit pace. In addition, it strengthens its commercial network, closeness to customers and innovation pipeline.
The transaction includes ERCA's local specialty chemical assets and its portfolio of agrochemicals and home & personal care products. Located at Itatiba city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, these new industrial assets will give Solvay the scalability to expand further to meet growing demand. Novecare will deploy its leading position in several technology platforms, especially in developing and providing quats, which are the building blocks for an array of Novecare specialty chemicals and surfactants. In addition, Solvay will enter into a patnership with ERCA to manufacture their products for their construction and textile market segments.
"The acquisition of these specialty chemical assets represents an important step for Novecare to grow in Brazil's dynamic market, expand our technology and product portfolio, increase production capacity and provide global innovations to meet the immediate demand of our customers. With a competitive industrial footprint, we are able to help our customers capture business opportunities and develop new products and solutions to meet their growth ambitions," said Emmanuel Butstraen, President of Solvay Novecare.
"This agreement represents an important step to re-focus the Company attention on the Performance Chemicals, providing consistent financial support to further develop and optimize industrial presence in the region, expand R&D activities and consolidate the long term relationship with Solvay Group" said Giuseppe Seccomandi, CEO of Erca Group.
"It goes without saying that such agreement will reinforce our commitment to provide the highest standard solutions, including quality, application assistance and R&D activities based on clean and renewable feedstock. This is the starting point of an ambitious plan to become the leader supplier of performance chemicals in Brazil, confirming a deep attention in providing technical solutions to the domestic growing segments" said Sidnei Maturano, President of Erca Quimica.