Clariant, a focused, sustainable, and innovative specialty chemical company, said today that it has entered formal agreements to purchase BASF's U.S. Attapulgite business assets for USD 60 million in cash, as well as a long-term supply arrangement for attapulgite-based products with BASF. The deal is expected to close in summer 2022, subject to usual closing conditions.
With mining facilities in Georgia and Florida and processing operations in Quincy, Florida, BASF's Attapulgite business is one of the largest attapulgite miners and producers in North America.
The company manufactures attapulgite-based products for a variety of uses and markets. In the industry, BASF is known for its unique combination of mineral quality, mine reserve size, and strategic position.
Clariant is a technical leader in edible oil and renewable fuel purification. The deal will significantly boost the Business Unit's North American production capability, allowing it to better compete in the lucrative North American market.
Clariant has developed proprietary technology for purifying biodiesel, which helps to minimize greenhouse gas emissions in road traffic, and pyrolysis oil, which allows for chemical recycling of plastics.
The North American renewable fuels market, which is based on waste streams such as old cooking oils, tall oil, tallow, animal fats, and distillers corn oil, is poised for growth. Adsorbent clays are an important enabler for growth because they remove impurities during pretreatment, safeguarding the catalyst and allowing for a stable and economically feasible process.
“This acquisition fits very well with our growth strategy to grow through sustainability-focused innovations and bolt-on acquisitions. This acquisition will further nicely extend the footprint of our Functional Minerals business in North America and will further improve Clariant’s position in renewable fuels purification,” said Conrad Keijzer, Chief Executive Officer of Clariant.
“Clariant is already seen as a sustainability and technology leader today and this acquisition will further improve Clariant’s position in renewable fuel purification.”
Structured as an asset deal with a cash purchase price of USD 60 million, the transaction includes the transfer of land & mining rights, the processing facility, and inventories, which will be integrated into Clariant’s Functional Minerals Business Unit. Clariant is pleased to welcome 75 highly qualified, dedicated employees.
BASF’s Attapulgite business generated sales of approximately USD 36 million in 2020.The transaction will accrete to the Natural Resource’s EBITDA margin profile and will support Clariant on its path towards its recently announced 2025 targets. Customary closing actions, including merger notification and clearance filings as well as real estate title work are anticipated to result in a closing of the transaction in summer 2022.
