Bayer will extend polycarbonate sheet business

Bayer MaterialScience will acquire Arkema’s polycarbonate sheet business in the USA. Both companies have signed the agreement. Financial terms are not disclosed. With this deal, expected to be finalized in May, Bayer MaterialScience will further strengthen its position in the North American market and its global sheet activities. The company already operates sheet production in the USA, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, Italy as well as China, India, Korea and Australia.

The acquisition will include Arkema’s Tuffak® line of products used in areas such as aerospace, transportation and heavy equipment. In addition, production equipment from Arkema Inc. will be transferred to the sheet business of Bayer MaterialScience LLC in the NAFTA region. To provide customers with a smooth transition, Arkema will continue to produce the products for several months through a tolling agreement with Bayer MaterialScience.

"The addition of the well-known Tuffak® business will further strengthen our quality leadership position in the growing North American polycarbonate sheet market," said Thomas Karl Kastner, global head of Bayer MaterialScience’s sheet business. "This acquisition will support our strategic initiative to establish polycarbonate sheet as the product of choice in the security glazing, mass transportation and signage markets."

For more than 60 years, Bayer MaterialScience has been a leader in innovation and quality production of extruded thermoplastic sheet products. The company offers a broad range of Makrolon® polycarbonate sheet products for a variety of areas, including architectural, security, transportation, industrial, sign and recreational.

With 2011 sales of EUR 10.8 billion, Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2011, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 14,800 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.

Source: Bayer MaterialScience